TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. —
Development is full on the fourth hangar of the KC-46A Pegasus campus at Tinker Air Pressure Base.
The most recent hangar got here on-line in September 2023, three years to the month after the primary KC-46 arrived at Tinker for depot upkeep. It’s the fourth of seven hangars that may make up Tinker’s latest mission acquisition.
The Air Pressure bought the 158-acre Burlington Northern Santa Fe railyard from Oklahoma County to make means for KC-46 campus in February 2015. The land-purchase course of started in March 2012.
The land buy was made potential by way of a joint effort of the U.S. Air Pressure ($8 million), the Metropolis of Oklahoma Metropolis ($23.5 million) and Oklahoma County ($12.5 million).
“It is extremely thrilling,” stated Colton Shaub, plane mechanic supervisor on the 568th Plane Upkeep Squadron. “As a result of we’re a rising group, now we have been stacked on prime of one another slightly bit. Getting to maneuver into different hangars and have extra space has been very good.”
Area has been a problem for crews as new hangars are constructed.
“Numerous the plane upkeep, till these hangars had been on-line, had been being finished outdoors on the apron,” stated Shaub. “When it’s snowing, we nonetheless should exit and carry out that upkeep outdoors. When it’s the summer season and it’s excessively sizzling, we’re on the market working too.”
The fourth hangar is the primary on the campus constructed to help gasoline upkeep on the plane. Whereas generic plane upkeep is performed inside the opposite three hangars, C test upkeep can be accomplished inside the most recent hangar. The hangar additionally requires much less upkeep relating to gasoline earlier than an plane enters.
“For the plane to go in a number of the different bays, mechanics must spend a few full shift, if no more, defueling and sumping the plane earlier than shifting it right into a hanger,” stated Shaub. “Constructing 9505 is about up the place when an plane lands with a full gasoline load, it will possibly transfer immediately into the hangar.”
The power to maneuver an plane immediately right into a hangar and never spend hours defueling will show crucial within the occasion extreme or winter climate strikes into the realm.
Development has already begun on the fifth hangar of the KC-46 campus. It would encompass three bays, making it the biggest upkeep hangar on the campus.
Development on Tinker’s KC-46 campus is predicted to final into 2029. As soon as full, the realm will embody hangars and ramp infrastructure.
The KC-46 will ultimately change the KC-135, a refueling tanker with a upkeep mission at Tinker.
In the long run, the Air Pressure can have invested over $837 million in navy development funding into this system.
The campus can be anticipated to make use of 1,300 folks beneath Oklahoma’s High quality Jobs Program. Administration positions inside the program are presently being crammed. Shaub says extra mechanics can be employed in Spring 2024 to help with the 2025 workload.
Go to USAJobs or the AF Civilian Careers web site to view the newest KC-46 job openings.
Primarily based on the Boeing 767, the KC-46A is a wide-body, multi-role succesful tanker, supporting missions resembling aerial refueling, cargo and aeromedical evacuation, in addition to passenger transport. Tinker AFB is the programmed depot upkeep hub for the KC-46A, offering all facets of depot plane upkeep.
