New Zealand, United States Airmen collaborate on small part with big impact; get United States C-17 mission-ready

by Senior Master Sgt. Denise Johnson
Pacific Air Forces Public Affairs

11/20/2013 - OHAKEA, New Zealand  -- Royal New Zealand Air Force Airmen fabricated a 4-inch metal plate to repair a malfunction on a United States Air Force C-17 Globemaster III at RNZAF Base Ohakea here Nov. 15 during Exercise Kiwi Flag.

The auxiliary power unit inlet door target sensor was faulty which was causing a warning light to illuminate during preflight checks. The fault grounded one of the two C-17s deployed to New Zealand in support of Kiwi Flag and its overarching exercise, Southern Katipo.

"It's one small part with big repercussions," said Master Sgt. Adam Keele, 517th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron production superintendent. "We had to find a fix fast or wait for a part to be shipped from overseas, so we reached out to our Kiwi counterparts."

Keele, a Victor, Montana, native, reached out to a RNZAF liaison for assistance in contacting the local RNZAF Maintenance Support Squadron.

Corporal Gene Angus, RNZAF aircraft technician in the squadron's structural repair bay, was first to greet the American maintainer, "Sergeant Keele came over last night with one of our warrant officers and asked if we might be able to help out by fabricating this part," Angus explained. "We were happy to help out, so we began our research when they left."

The structural team stayed after hours to determine whether or not the fabrication was feasible. The following morning two U.S. Airmen delivered a technical drawing of the part.

"They handed us the paper and told us, 'This is what we actually want.' We looked over the specifications and told them it wouldn't be a problem to come up with a plan ... so we went to work," Angus said.

The RNZAF technician consulted RNZAF Leading Aircraftsman, Karl Waiariki, also from the structural repair bay. The two compared the specifications with the materials they had in-stock, determining they could fabricate the part with a slight difference in the grade of metal.

"We looked up the ultimate tensile strength; the technical drawing called for 155,000 PSI. The stock material we used, 301 half-hard stainless steel, is rated at 150,000 PSI, so it's not much difference at all -- though it still required an engineer to sign-off on [the disparity]," Waiaraki said.

The grade of steel indicates the different heat treatments which result in different temper states.

"It's my responsibility to make sure we maintain the integrity of the maintenance done on the aircraft," Keele said. "The difference, though nominal, had to be approved by an engineer from Boeing, the aircraft manufacturer."

Keele went to work on the approval process, while the RNZAF Airmen went to work building the part.

Waiaraki said he used a radius gauge to make sure he created an exact 5-degree angle ... "that had to be precise so we did a bit of maths to find the dimensions because the radius of the bend affects the length," he explained. "You're measuring the outside of the radiuses; you can't just put that number in and bend it -- you have to make it bigger or smaller depending on how you bend it, so you do the maths to figure it out."

The minimum bend radius came out to 160,000 according to Waiaraki's calculations. When he applied the part's technical specifications to the math equation, he got 170,000, a safe level above the minimum.

"You can't go any tighter than that because you'll be in danger of fatigue cracking," he said.

With the research, measurements and material collected, the RNZAF crafted the critical piece of metal into a new APU inlet door sensor target in less than 2 hours.

"We knew the part was ready, so all we needed was the engineer approval -- which was in-work," Keele said.

Keele walked through the same doors less than 24 hours after his first visit to the structural repair bay to pick up the newly-crafted part, engineer approval safely in-hand.

"We'll have this part in before the morning and be up and running again," Keele said. "We couldn't have done it without these guys -- it's one of the benefits of exercises like these: we build relationships and learn who has what capability and how we can benefit one another. We also develop a deeper respect and appreciation for our fellow service members ... I think we will all take a lot away from Kiwi Flag, including some newfound friendships."

Waiaraki, who typically works on Iroquois helicopters, C-130 Hercules' and P-3 Orions, said he embraced the opportunity to work on the C-17 and to develop his skills further.

"I didn't think I'd get to touch any foreign aircraft when this exercise started," he said. "I certainly didn't expect anything like this, but it's standard for this bay: we're happy to step up to anything that comes our way and give it go. We can only get better by interacting with fellow professionals and overcoming challenges together."

Kiwi Flag is a multilateral RZNAF-sponsored tactical airlift exercise conducted annually in New Zealand. Service members from the USAF, RNZAF, Royal Australian Air Force, Republic of Singapore Armed Forces and French Armed Forces of New Caledonia are participating. Air operations will be conducted out of RNZAF Base Ohakea, New Zealand. Kiwi Flag personnel will provide air support to Exercise Southern Katipo, New Zealand Defence Force's largest-ever multilateral joint force amphibious exercise with eight other nations participating: United States Army and Marines, Australia, Canada, France, Malaysia, Singapore, Papua New Guinea and Tonga.

"We are just glad to help out in any way we can," Angus said. "It shows we can support one another when called upon and that's what exercises like Kiwi Flag are all about. It's a win-win."