In this volume of "Standing Ready," Staff Sgt. Micheal Heck, of the 127th Wing Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, describes his job as an Electrical Integrated Systems Mechanic (Avionics.)
#TeamSelfridge
#MichiganNationalGuard
#AirNationalGuard
A group of volunteers with hundreds of years of combined experience are helping to restore a World War II-era fighter aircraft to life at the Selfridge Military Air Museum.
The volunteers are restoring a F4U Corsair, which will eventually be placed on display in the museum’s air park.
“This is what gets me up in the morning,” said Darrell Rohrbeck, a 93-year-old retired engineer who is serving as the superintendent on the project. “Sure, you wake up in the morning and you think about sleeping in, but I get out here to the museum and this just makes my day.”
Corsairs were used extensively by the US Navy and US Marine Corps during World War II and the Korean War. The Corsair held by the museum entered in to service in...
Airmen from the 171st Air Refueling Squadron practice minimum interval takeoffs at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mich. on July 10, 2019. Active duty instructors from the 92nd Air Refueling Wing at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, partnered with Selfridge Airmen to complete this vital training. Common place during the Cold War, a MITO challenges crews to get multiple aircraft off the ground within 15 minutes of initial alert notices. While the small launch window is challenging in itself, turbulence created from the leading aircraft can create rough air for the following planes, testing the aircrew's skills.
An outsider might assume that high wind gusts at Selfridge Air National Guard Base on a very blustery March morning may have curtailed flying due to safety concerns on take-off or landing.
Really, it was the mechanics checking the oil on the A-10 Thunderbolt IIs at the base who were having the problems.
