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Tinker shop powers cruise missiles

  • Published
  • By Howdy Stout
  • Tinker Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla., --  The whine of jet engines has replaced the rumble of radials, but the halls of building 214 still echo with history.

"This was the first engine test facility at base," explains James Smith, supervisor for the crew now occupying the unusual-looking building. The buildings towering test cells were designed to hold engines during run-ups.

But gone are the relics of the past. Empty is the basement that held the radial engines that powered World War II's largest bombers. The captured Japanese Zero that lay dismantled in the basement has found a new home in the Smithsonian.

In their place are relics from another war. Building 214 is home to the 550th Commodities Maintenance Squadron, the only overhaul facility for the F107 jet engine, the powerplant for the AGM-86 Air Launched Cruise Missile.

A product of the cold war, the nuclear-tipped ALCM provoked fear in the Soviet Union when it was first deployed in 1982. Used during the first Gulf War, conventionally-armed ALCMs hit vital targets in Iraq. Now, many of the nuclear-armed missiles are being phased out.. For those that remain, workers in the Cruise Missile Engine Repair Shop make sure the engines run the first time, every time.

"They're basically a throw-away engine," says Mike Harris, jet engine mechanic. "They're good for one go around."

With only one shot, everyone is meticulous. The seven-person crew are the only ones in the world who overhaul and maintain the miniature jet engine.

"This is a one-of-a-kind facility in the Air Force," says Jim McKay, work inspector. "We're the only ones who do this."

Originally designed for use in a battlefield hovercraft, the F-107 engine fit the bill for the cruise missile. Weighing only 156lbs, the engine produces up to 700lbs of thrust at 63,000 rpm. Although simple to maintain and designed for one use, it needs to work right for its first and only flight.

"I'm the first and last set of eyes on these engines," says Don Brown, a mechanic who works alone in the quiet of one of the old engine test cells. "This is it. When it gets to Hill (Air Force Base, Utah), it goes right in the missile. You just hope that you've covered all the bases so that if they have to use it, when they pickle it off the B-52, it starts up. Because it's either going to start or it's going to drop like a rock." 

Mr. Brown works cautiously on the incoming missiles to disarm them, carefully removing the explosive canister and oxygen bottle used to "jump-start" the missile in-flight. For outgoing missiles, he reinstalls the canister and bottle and gives the engines a last check to see that it is ready for its mission. He works carefully because, as an Air Force veteran who hung live ordnance on B-52s, he knows how important his job is.

"I take my time with these," Mr. Brown says. "I know where they're going and what they're for. You think about it. You think about it a lot."

"This is a good group of guys," Mr. Smith says. "I don't have to worry about them. These guys are good at what they do and they know what it takes. And they're all conscious of what it's for."

A small group, the workers have almost as much history as the building they work in. Mr. Smith helped refurbish the building when it was designated for the F-107 overhaul shop. Jet engine mechanic Bill Farmer, who was born at Tinker in the immediate post-war years and will have worked on base for 40 years this December, joined the team when it started in August, 1988.

"Since the very first day," he says. "It beats hot-tar roofing."

Like the engines they maintain, the crew keeps working, conscious of both their current mission and the heritage they uphold. They are the last to do what they do. And when the mission is finished, there might not be another.

"This building is unique, not just because of what it looks like, but what goes on inside," Mr. Farmer says. "When we started, we didn't know the difference between a stator or a rotator, we had to learn as we went. Now, we're the only five left who know anything about them."

"We're the only ones in the world," Mr. Harris agrees. "We have equipment here that are the only ones in the world. And we'll be the last to use them."

We're just a bunch of old timers," Mr. McKay laughs.

Mr. Farmer says he might retire, but don't count on it. There might be new work to do on the actuators for the F-119 engine that powers the Air Force's latest fighter, the F-22 Raptor. And the work may turn full circle if the shop wins the contract to work on the piston-engines that power the Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle.
"We don't turn down work," says Mr. Smith. "Bring it in. We'll figure how to work it."