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Photo By Senior Airman Jeffrey Withrow | Airman 1st Class Kameron Utira-Ramirez, 434th Maintenance Squadron aircraft fuels...... read more read more
GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind. -- When it comes to passing gas, one team at Grissom ensures that the fuel flows smoothly on the KC-135R Stratotanker.
The 434th Maintenance Squadron aircraft fuel system specialists are tasked with ensuring that Grissom’s 135s have fully operational fuel systems at all times. Master Sgt. Evan Heintz, 434th MXS fuel systems supervisor, explained that one of the most important parts of keeping the fuel system up and running is finding and repairing leaks.
“A lot of what we do is looking for leaks and reparing them when they are found,” said Heintz. “We also have a part to play during the yearly inspections and we do some troubleshooting of issues out on the flightline, but repairing leaks is our biggest job.”
Fall and spring tend to be busier for the fuel system mechanics said Heintz. He also explained that they often find leaks when an aircraft has a higher fuel load.
“We have good aircraft that are well maintained here, so our work load is usually pretty low,” said Heintz. “We get busy in late fall and late spring when the temperature is changing and causing the tanks and bladders to expand and contract. We also tend to find leaks a lot when aircraft are loaded with more fuel than usual. The fuel has a chance to reach the tops of the tanks and that can reveal leaks that wouldn’t have been noticed with a smaller fuel load.”
Checking for leaks can involve removing the fuel bladder, which is only 1/16th of an inch thick, and inflating it to search for a leak or, in the case of the integral tanks, climbing inside of the tank itself. Access to the tanks is gained through a hatch smaller than a manhole and, once inside, the tanks offer little room to do more than kneel down but the Airmen tasked with crawling into the small space don’t let the tight quarters bother them said Staff Sgt. Kevin Peters, 434th Maintenance Group aircraft fuel systems mechanic.
“Being inside of the tanks isn’t too bad,” said Peters. “There is a surprising amount of room to move around, we can’t stand up or anything but the tanks are long enough to stretch out in. Since we are looking for leaks we tend to either lie on our backs and look up or kneel down to check the bottom of the tank. It can be stressful but as long as you take breaks every so often it doesn’t get that bad.”
While inside the tanks the Airmen have to take several safety precautions so no one gets hurt. The safety measures range from the number of people required to be present to ensuring the tank has proper ventilation said Heintz.
“When someone is in the tank they are required to have at least two other people with them,” said Heintz. “One is nearby to check on the person in the tank and the other acts a runner in case of emergency. The runner would activate the hanger sprinkler system or call for help. We also have a ventilation system installed in the hanger. When someone goes inside a fuel tank we connect two hoses to it, one pulls air out while the other pumps fresh air in.”
They have to take special precautions so that the fuel vapors don’t ignite said Heintz.
“Before we go in we have to discharge any static build up,” he said, pressing his hand to a metal plate mounted next to the door. “All or our equipment is specially designed and tested for this job so it won’t ignite the vapors. We are very careful and take safety very seriously.”
The KC-135R is able to carry up to 205,000 pounds of fuel spread across 16 flexible fuel storage bladders and 10 integral fuel tanks located throughout the aircraft. The Stratotanker is able to use any of the fuel on board to power its own engines and can use fuel from most of the tanks for refueling operations.
The 434th ARW is the largest KC-135R Stratotanker unit in the Air Force Reserve Command. Men and women from the Hoosier Wing routinely deploy around the world in support of the Air Force mission.
Stay connected with the 434th ARW on Facebook and Twitter.
| Date Taken: | 03.20.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 01.30.2018 09:04 |
| Story ID: | 263806 |
| Location: | GRISSOM AIR FORCE BASE, INDIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 80 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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