Tinker AFB performing intermediate maintenance on F101 engine

Published Feb. 29, 2008
By Brandice Armstrong
72nd Air Base Wing Public Affairs

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- One month after its arrival signaled a new workload for Tinker AFB, F101 engine intermediate-level maintenance repair is well under way.

General Electric F101s, augmented turbofan engines, are the muscle behind the B-1 Lancer. The workload is a Repair Enterprise for the 21st Century Lean logistics initiative and transformation process effort to consolidate intermediate maintenance facilities.

Prior to the RE21 initiative, there were three intermediate maintenance facilities: McConnell AFB, Kan.; Ellsworth AFB, S.D.; and Dyess AFB, Texas. Since the initiative began, McConnell AFB stood down its jet engine intermediate maintenance shop. Ellsworth AFB is doing limited uninstalled maintenance and will stop all F101 engine work at the end of fiscal 2008, further consolidating the workload at Tinker, said Capt. Marty Hagg, 545th PMXS deputy director.

The role of Tinker's intermediate maintenance facility is to fix any unscheduled damage. When the first engine arrived in February, it included two noted discrepancies: Number 1 fan blade damage; and a high-pressure turbine nozzle crack. Mechanics found six additional issues once they began working on the engine.

"It's kind of like Christmas, you never know what you'll get until you open it," said Chad Curl, the 545th Propulsion Maintenance Squadron RE21 F101 workload supervisor.

Captain Hagg agreed.

"A lot of times jet engines are like that," he said. "They come in for one thing and in the repair process you find more and more (work)."

According to Maj. Gen. Loren Reno, Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center commander, the F101 workload is important to Tinker AFB because it is important to the Air Force.

"Doing F101 engine work at Tinker is part of securing the right workload, my No. 1 strategic goal," General Reno said. "This intermediate maintenance is essential for the engine's health, and we certainly know how to do jet engine maintenance."

Tinker's RE21 F101 mechanics, which consist of 11 military and civilians, have 20 days to make the repairs before the engine has to be returned.

Of all possible repairs on the F101, Mr. Curl said the RE21 shop will complete 85 to 90 percent in the shop.

"We can tear these engines all the way to the floor and rebuild them," Mr. Curl said. "The only components we have to send out are depot repair rotors and things like that.

"We're only fixing what's broke and doing smart, opportunistic (reliability centered maintenance), then giving it back to the warfighter as soon as possible," Mr. Curl said. "We try to remove and replace the least number of parts as we can."

The engine is currently the only one in the repair shop, and there are about nine engines waiting for repair, but the shop is not fully operational. The shop will be ready in late March after construction of the 35,000-square-foot shop in Bldg. 3705 is complete.

Once the F101 shop reaches full operational capability, it will have the capacity to handle up to 15 engines per month.