The landing gear was being retracted. It, on the other hand, continued to bounce around and refused to lock
The 55th Wing marked another historic milestone when a Royal Air Force (RAF) RC-135 ‘Airseeker’ aircraft diverted to Offutt Air Force Base (AFB) after experiencing landing gear problems during a joint exercise at Nellis AFB, Nevada, as reported by Delanie Stafford, 55th Wing Public Affairs in the article Offutt teams with RAF 51 Squadron to fix Airseeker landing gear.
The RAF pilots asked the 55th Maintenance Group (MXG) for field-level maintenance assistance, which is the 55th Wing’s largest stateside request to date. It also enabled the first test of a newly adopted co-manning system aimed at bridging the gap in maintenance capabilities between the Royal Air Force and the United States Air Force (USAF).
“We had a really productive deployment right until the last two missions,” said RAF Warrant Officer Ray Sowersby, 51 Squadron maintenance superintendent. “We had an undercarriage fault indication and the only jacks available were at Offutt. So I reached out to our cousins in the 55th and said ‘Hey guys, can we have some help?’”
The RAF would generally fly in equipment from its home station to make repairs, according to Sowersby. Due to its proximity to Nellis and the availability of maintenance staff experienced with the RC-135 platform, Offutt seemed a superior option.
Since 2011, the two countries have collaborated to assist in the training and equipping of maintenance and aircrew members on the recently purchased UK RC-135. According to Sowersby, this was the first time an RAF RC-135 landed at Offutt, and it was also the first time maintainers worked side-by-side to fix one of their planes.
The two countries have previously swapped aircrew members in training and real-world operations, but the maintenance side had not been tested.
“This was a great opportunity to test the co-manning initiative that has been in the works over the past two years,” said USAF 1st Lt. Dustin Bagnall, 55th Maintenance Squadron (MXS) assistant operations officer.
“This opportunity validated all of the time and effort expended by both nations to train RAF maintenance personnel and make it possible for maintainers from both countries to work together,” said Chief Master Sgt. Robert Wege, the 55th MXG superintendent has been heading the co-manning initiative. “The synergy created will greatly enhance the capabilities of the overall RJ intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance effort worldwide.”
The RAF plane landed in Offutt on February 11th. Joint maintenance technicians dragged the plane into a hanger and lifted it off the ground so they could start troubleshooting the landing gear.
“It was great seeing British and American maintainers working for hand and hand as if they had been doing it forever,” Bagnall said. “The integration was seamless.”
The RAF’s return to Offutt was also a reunion of friends for some of the 55th MXS repair and reclamation shop employees, who knew several of the RAF maintainers from prior training experiences.
“We were here to provide expert help for them,” said Tech. Sgt. Russel Orr, a 55th MXS aero repair technician. “Their landing gear was retracting into place. However, it continued to bounce around and would not lock. At Offutt, we have capabilities and equipment that the RAF does not have, and we can provide help with some of the more extensive aspects of troubleshooting.”
Maintenance crews from the RAF 51 Squadron and the 55th MXS worked together to raise and lower the hanging Airseeker’s landing gear, soon identifying the problem as a malfunctioning main landing gear sequence valve.
The 55th MXS supply personnel ordered the replacement parts on a Sunday, and the jet was fully mission capable by Tuesday. The success of the combined effort was aided by the prompt actions of everyone involved in the supply chain.
“The logistic support that was there over the weekend gave the co-manning another capability to show off,” Bagnall said.
Offutt and the 51 Squadron had never worked together on maintenance before, and the 55th MXG expects to continue the partnership in the future.
Sowersby acknowledged his appreciation for the 55th MXG’s assistance.
“The guys here…they’re bending over backward to make it all work for us,” he said.
Photo by Delanie Stafford / U.S. Air Force