412th MXS takes part in Air Force T-38 part replacement

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class William O'Brien
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affair
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  The 412th Maintenance Squadron's machine shop completed 100 new aileron actuator levers Dec. 4 for the Air Force's T-38 Talon fleet.

Aileron actuator levers control the flaps on the T-38's wings to keep the aircraft level.

Since the T-38 production ended in 1972, most of the aircraft still have their original aileron actuator levers, which have now begun to crack. This problem could cause pilots to lose control of the aircraft.

"After a T-38 crashed May 1, the Air Force began inspecting them and realized many of the aircrafts' aileron actuator levers had begun to crack, and they didn't have enough in supply to replace them all," said Donny White, 412th Maintenance Squadron team supervisor.

Maintainers from Edwards, Hill Air Force Base, Tinker Air Force Base, Robins Air Force Base and the China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station were tasked to help build the 3,400 aileron actuator levers.

According to Jim Bellay, 412th MXS machinist, the new aileron actuator levers will last longer than the old ones because of the new construction improvements that have been made.

"The new actuator levers are made up of solid metal, which will make them much more durable than the old ones that were casted from molds," Mr. Bellay said.

Six maintainers worked in the production of 100 levers from Edwards.

Although these maintainers don't usually do projects like this, the crew had no problem making the adjustments necessary to help the Air Force with this project.

"Our shop is intended to support the 412th Test Wing with aircraft maintenance," said Michael Franklin, 412th MXS model maker. "But I've worked in shops that were geared more toward working on things like this. It wasn't too different for me and everyone else working on these has experience doing things similar to this so it's not really new for us."