A B-1B bomber crew did yeoman work getting their aircraft on the ground safely after it experienced a catastrophic hydraulic failure; even more amazing the maintainers managed to repair damage so severe it would be a challenge back stateside, says 1st Lt. Ron Poe, 34th Aircraft Maintenance Unit assistant officer in charge. Maintainers found that the nose gear mount pins had sheared from their attachment points and that the No. 2 and 3 engines had ingested some of the hardware, reports SSgt. Cassandra Locke. They faced several major challenges, including getting the spare parts and the 100-degree heat. Another one was the fact they had never replaced a gear assembly without assistance from an Air Force depot.
The Air Force awarded a $13.08 billion contract to the Sierra Nevada Corporation on April 26 for its Survivable Airborne Operations Center aircraft, the successor to the service’s E-4B “Doomsday” plane. Like the E-4B, officially called the National Airborne Operations Center, the SAOC will be meant to withstand a nuclear attack and keep…