402nd mechanics prepare damaged aircraft for final flight to 'boneyard' Published March 18, 2011 By Wayne Crenshaw 78th ABW/PA ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Aircraft mechanics here work hard every day with the single goal of returning safe and reliable aircraft to the warfighter as quickly as possible. Recently, however, some C-5 mechanics have been working with a uniquely different purpose. They have been making modifications on a C-5 to allow the 42-year-old plane, which has a structural crack, to be safely flown to the boneyard in Tucson, Ariz. "Boneyard" is the more commonly used name for a huge area at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base managed by the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group. It is home to 4,400 retired aircraft from all branches of the military. It's not unusual for retired planes to be flown to the boneyard. In fact, 22 of the 111 C-5s in the Air Force inventory are being retired, and all will be flown to Tucson. What makes this one unique is that it is being flown from the depot. It has been here for close to two years, having come for programmed depot maintenance. However, well into the PDM, mechanics discovered a mainframe crack. Due to the age of the aircraft and the expense of making the repair, the decision was made to retire the plane. A few changes have been made to ensure a safe, final flight said Chuck Shoudel, the C-5 PDM program manager in the Aerospace Sustainment Directorate. As a precaution, the plane will be flown low and slow, making what would ordinarily be about a five-hour flight a nine-hour flight. "We are configuring the plane to make it easier on our guys," Mr. Shoudel said. If having mechanics work on a plane that is retiring seems wasteful, consider the alternative. The only other way to get the mammoth aircraft to the boneyard would be to hire a contractor to take it apart piece by piece and truck it to Arizona. Mr. Shoudel estimated that even with the cost of making the modifications, flying the plane to Arizona will save more than $1 million. The modifications include removing the landing gear doors because the plane will be flown with the landing gear down. The doors, which could be used on another plane, would be damaged in the flight if not removed. As with most other planes at the facility, the C-5 being flown from Robins will be stored with the potential to be returned to service. However, considering the mainframe crack, Mr. Shoudel said he doubts that would ever happen. The plane is scheduled to be flown to Tucson by March 25, 2011. The aircraft passed all ground checks March 8 and is awaiting a boneyard induction date before departing for Tucson.