Joining forces: Tinker partners with Boeing, RAAF for joint operation Published May 14, 2009 By Brandice J. Armstrong Tinker Public Affairs TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Tinker officials deemed the pick-up a success. After seven months of planning and coordinating, two Royal Australian air force C-17 Globemasters recently arrived at Tinker, acquired a training simulator and returned to their native Australia. The joint operation between Tinker, RAAF and Boeing came about when RAAF ordered an $18-million C-17A Weapons Systems Trainer from Boeing, and requested to pick up the equipment at Tinker. On April 23 and 28, respectively, Tinker officials loaded the C-17s with a total of seven trains and nine single pallets, or 56 separate crates, of equipment that weighed more than 89,000 pounds. "We have good international relations with Australia," said Tech. Sgt. David Dries, 72nd Logistics Readiness Squadron Aircraft Services NCOIC and lead Tinker coordinator for the simulator project. "We worked hand-in-hand, side-by-side and there hasn't been a question or issue at all." Australian officials agreed. "The successful delivery of the WST to Australia from the United States is due in no small part to the commitment of Sergeant Dries and his Aerial Port [Air Movements] team," wrote officials from the RAAF C-17A Project Office. The simulator, which trains RAAF pilots to fly C-17s, is known as a "Level 5," meaning it is the closest thing to being in the cockpit of a real aircraft. As part of the simulator's capabilities, it will allow for night-vision goggle exercises and air-to-air refueling training, said Flying Officer Eamon Hamilton of the RAAF Base Richmond Air Lift Group's Public Affairs office. The simulator was built in Broken Arrow by Flight Safety International, an aviation training company, and transported to Tinker. The cargo arrived on-base the day before each aircraft came to the installation. Once on base, approximately 15 Tinker personnel, led by Sergeant Dries, pronounced Dr-EE-z, packaged the equipment, which was "complicated load because it is big, bulky items that are outsized the normal aircraft cargo parameters," the sergeant said. Sergeant Dries said a standard aircraft pallet is 88 inches by 108 inches. The simulator's cargo was roughly 223 inches by 160 inches by 114 inches. To make it air-worthy and safe for flight, the sergeant and his crew created supports for the platform that holds the cargo. Once ready, the platform, which is already attached to the loading equipment, was backed up to the aircraft and, pushed onto the plane. With packing and crating, it cost approximately $33 million to move the simulator. "The 72nd LRS is not just a deployment-mobility machine," Sergeant Dries said. "We are also working with other countries moving cargo in and out of this location. We are not just a mobility function; we are also an international function." The aircraft left Tinker to return to Australia April 24 and 29, respectively.