Air Force Materiel Command personnel from various units united to figure out how to get a B-1B bomber damaged by a fire in its No. 4 engine during a mission over Afghanistan to a safe environment for repairs. John Scaggs reports that ultimately eight enlisted mechanics from the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, which provides repair and depot work on B-1s, deployed to Southwest Asia. On-site maintenance crews had removed the engine, leaving the OK-ALC crew to ready the bomber for flight with only three engines, “a dicey proposition.” Air Force Reservists from the 10th Flight Test Squadron at Tinker AFB, Okla., used a simulator at Dyess AFB, Tex., to prepare themselves for the flight and joined with Air Combat Command aircrew members, since the departure point was in a war zone, and flew the bomber in two legs to a standby airfield, RAF Fairford, England, where engineers and mechanics are considering whether they can fully repair the bomber at Fairford.
The six-week government shutdown did not affect the hours flown by Air Force pilots, a service spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine—avoiding what could have been a major blow at a time when flying hours are already lower than they have been in decades.
