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Show Supplement to the Hilltop Times June 4, 1992 n f IS WOOD 3a headsllp o r Dro (SI B3I TP The motivator smiles, SMSgt. Martin Tobert has a lot to grin about these days. Tobert spearheaded an unprecedented task when he and a group of reservists from Hill AFB All 7-- t V v o - till i literally clipped the wings of an SR-7based at Beale AFB, Calif., and had it transported to their home 1 base. jm.. FW ... nnw itWritw- Public Affairs Office Some flat out thought it couldn't be done. Others were just skeptical. But for a group of reservists at Hill AFB, cutting apart an SR-7- 1 was just a matter of taking care of business. Members of the 405th Combat Logistics Support Squadron typically spend their two weeks of annual training at F-- 4 and 6 bases; however, this time what they did at Beale AFB, Calif., proved to be a milestone. Reservists cut apart one of the few remaining U.S. Air Force SR-7- 1 spy planes and had it transported to their home base. It was the first time anyone had ever clipped the wings of the near F-1- - -- saw that thing actually go into a C-- I thought this was going to be a tremendous embarrassment on my shoulders if the thing didn't fit, "said Tobert. People from the Intrepid Museum in New York came to see first hand how a group of reservists were going to transport such a prize aircraft. The Intrepid was one of the first museums to procure an SR-7but they dismantled theirs at the seams where the manufacturer put it together. Had Tobert and his team used the same method, it would have never fit I by SrA. Charles Freeman 419th -a 5. 1, in a C-- 5. people and one week from the time they arrived at Beale, their mission was accom- plished, although the plane stayed at Beale for one year before a 5 could be obtained. During this time, most of the big transport planes were being used to support Operations Desert ShieldStorm, In August 1991, the SR-7- 1 finally arrived at Hill, A C-- 5 carried the fuselage, and the smaller pieces were trucked in by the 67th Aerial Port Squadron, Twenty-tw- o C-- another Hill unit. Although Tobert fulfilled his obligation getting the "Habu" back to Hill, he couldn't drop the bird now. The next step was to have it reassembled. Initially, plans called for welding the wings back on, but that failed. Tobert came up with another idea to use 4130 extinct "Blackbird." In 1989, the Air Force canceled funding for the plane when the Pentagon announced spy satellites could do the same job for less and without risk to human life. For the team that participated in the mission, the excitement of their involvement with such an aircraft has toned down somewhat. One man, however, is all smiles. "No one would say this could be done, but we did it," said SMSgt. Martin Tobert, the reservist tasked with the awesome responsibility to recover the supersonic 66 once-in-a-lifeti- ' I" No one would say this could be I f t chrome-allo- ' ," cornered one engineer and explained what I wanted to do. He sat it. there and intently listened. After I explained it, I looked him in the eye and said, 'Well, what do you think?' He looked me 99 SMSgt. Martin Tobert Team leader aircraft. The jet had back in the eye and said, ' n 66 I sweated it out for over a year from the time the concept was formulated in my mind until I saw that thing actually go into a bird was to cut the wings off outside the wheel struts. With the landing gear still attached to the fuselage, it could be rolled in and out of the belly of a aircraft. Numerous calculations were made to ensure it would fit. , - , . V -- .. ' , ' . y f 4 i - ' rt 1 ' 1 "- 1 ' . , . x ' "' "' 5. 99 1 ! F-4- "Ul'What's an idea 's Tobert timately, in two worked and months the team of volunteers had it back SR-71- ?' together. Today the plane is intact and housed for dis- at the base's play - ftt '' ' ' ' " L The plane Tobert stands next to the highly classified advanced reconnaissance aircraft during a visit to the Hill AFB Museum. Commonly was referred to as the "Blackbird" or "Habu," this'model of the the first seen by the public. one-tim- e SR-7- 1 museum. An era has ended for this one-tim- e e classified high-altitud- aircraft, but for the 405th reservists, the privilege of writing a page in history is just a part of the job. Incidentally, Hill's is the only "C" model plane in the inventory. It was made by using the forward fuselage of an model and the remainder of the airmodel. craft is a YF-1On March 6, 1990, the Blackbird flew its last SR-7- 1 C-- 5 According to Tobert, the "most technical" aspect of the mission was to C-figure out where to make the cuts. A crew chief at Beale who had worked on the Tobert SR-7Drovided the " reservists some helpful advice; but with a few exceptions, Tobert confided his team had little technical experience to draw on aside from their own experience with s and general mechanical knowledge. "I sweated it out for more than a year from the time the concept was formulated in my mind until steel to the wings y splice together, but wasajt sure it would work. "I done, but we did been obligated to the Hill Museum by the Air Force Museum at Wright-PattersoAFB, Ohio. When the recovery team arrived at Beale, they found the plane in operational condition, although it hadn't flown since 1976. "We first had to develop a concept of how to move it," said Tobert. "At 107 feet from nose to tail and about 55 feet wide, we obviously couldn't put it on a flatbed truck and take it down the highway," he explained. "It had to be " mmmmmmmmmmmm dismantled, he said em phatically, learn members decided the best way to transport this of The support SR-71- Some of the people who helped land the "Habu" at Hill. From left to right: SMSgt. Martin Tobert, SSgts. Mark Perry and Robert Peterson, TSgts. Gary Devor and , Bob Goodrich, MSgt. Scott SSgts. Ernest Hansen, Jose Delosreyes and Phil Eckersley, Col. John Hunter, SMSgt. Danny Cannon, SSgt. Dean Anderson, SSgt. Oneal Wilcox, MSgt. Richard Mata, TSgt. Chris Miller Cra-gun- and SSgt. Evan Pickering. B 2 high-speeflight in record time from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., in 68 minutes and 17 seconds. d Phofos by SrA. Charles Freeman |