ALC team restoring Ghost Rider to fly again

Jamin Alato, an aircraft mechanic with the 565th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, replaces nut plates on “Ghost Rider’s” vertical stabilizer. The B-52 Stratofortress, tail number 61-007, is currently undergoing extensive programmed depot maintenance here at Tinker Air Force Base. (Air Force photo by Kelly White/Released)

Out of the grave: OC-ALC team restoring Ghost Rider to fly again

Tim Abshire, a sheet metal mechanic with the 565th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, works on the structure of the fuselage of “Ghost Rider,” the B-52 Stratofortress which was pulled from the Boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., and has made its way to Tinker to undergo programmed depot maintenance. (Air Force photo by Kelly White/Released)

Out of the grave: OC-ALC team restoring Ghost Rider to fly again

Published April 1, 2016
By Kimberley Woodruff
Staff Writer

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- The "Ghost Rider," B-52 Stratofortress tail number 61-007, is at Tinker Air Force Base for its first Programmed Depot Maintenance since 2004.

Ghost Rider was pulled from the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, also known as the Air Force's "Boneyard," at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., after a B-52 was damaged beyond repair during a fire in 2014. Until its arrival at Tinker last fall, the aircraft had been in storage for more than seven years.

Production of the B-52H Stratofortress ceased in the 1960s and resurrecting the aircraft from deep storage was the only way to meet the nation's required strategic bomber capability.

"This aircraft has been exceptionally well preserved and maintained by the 309th AMARG team, which made the B-52 System Program Office's and Air Force Global Strike Command's recommendation to Air Staff to regenerate this tail number an easy choice," said Capt. Chuck McLeod, a logistics career broadening officer assigned to the 565th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron.

The aircraft is currently going through the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex's extensive PDM process and will be ready to rejoin the B-52 fleet later this year.

"This is more than just a regular PDM," said Janis Wood, deputy director for the 76th Aircraft Maintenance Group. "After seven years in storage, there are many modifications and inspections that must be done to ensure a safe and reliable aircraft."

The aircraft is scheduled to be complete in December and will re-enter the inventory at Minot AFB, N.D., shortly thereafter.