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Show HilltojC - November 30, 2000 In-hou- I se crews meet fire system replacement deadline by Dave Gange Aircraft Operations Division In early September, notice was given that the fire sprinkler system in Hangar One was inoperative. It was a deluge system, and the air lines that signaled the fire valves to open, were plugged. Without an operating fire sprinkler system, the hangar could not be used. ITie Aircraft Operations Division wanted to put two aircraft back in the hangar as soon as the roof was complete on the west side. With bad weather approaching, LAO was anxious to get the aircraft under cover and the fire protection system repaired. Several contracting methods were studied. All of these took months, and not weeks. The roofing contractor was finishing the roof on the east side, and the lighting contractor was following, tying in all the lighting with wire grids for earthquake protection. Unfortunately, the grid of wires made access to the fire sprinklers a lot harder. There were only three weeks before the lighting contractor would be starting the grid on the west. The Fire Suppression shop lead man, Bruce Owen, was asked to see if the shop could do this job. Owen said they C-1- 30 i Photos by Jack Bennett Fire sprinkler repair, above, was aided by lifts including three cherry pickers. One was loaned to the crew by a roofing contractor that had been Hangar 1. The loan kept crews ahead of schedule. Crew members for the project included, from left, Bruce Owen, Dave Pagano, John Puletu, Staff Sgt. William Edelman and Romie Rebino. 110-fo- The 12 fire suppression alarm valves had to be converted to wet valves instead of deluge valves. The old could, however it would have to be done after normal duty hours in order to stay ahead of the lighting contractor. Owen needed support from his supervisors, Dick . Hamada and Ernest Miller. Owen put together a volunteer crew within his shop including John Ruiz, Garry Hennessy, David Pagano, Jerry Sheen Jack Bennett, John Puletu, Romeo Rebanio, Tom Ibanez, Staff Sgt. Anthony Boggs, Staff Sgt. William Edelman and Staff Sgt. Daniel Frazer from CE East Zone as well as using other shops personnel. Utility Shop The goal at first was to have Owens shop replace one-thir- d of the conversion to make the deluge system Into a wet system. Owens crew worked for two weekends and a few late nights to get two-thirof the 856 fire sprinklers replaced. As many as six lifts were used, extending to heights from 60 to 115 feet. Since the old system hadnt been pressurized, a lot of the Victualic pipe connections had to be replaced. The old ones wouldnt hold the pressure so a special pipe alignment tool was fabricated and used. That way, the 5-- , 6and pipes stayed in alignment while the conds - ch nections were replaced. The old system had supervisory low air alarm and pressure switches that were supervised by the fire alarm panel. The low air alarm and pressure switches were removed, and the fire suppression shop installed 12 flow switches and wired the flow switches to the fire alarm panel. ir-ws- ot valves had to be converted temporally to wet valves. To accomplish this, the fire suppression crew had to take off all the trim from the valves and remove the pressure-operate- d release valve. The pressure-operate- d release valve is used on a deluge system so the system can reset itself after activation. The pressure operated release valves had to be removed so the fire riser would remain . pressurized at all times. A lot of the crew had to stay home from elk and deer in order to complete hunting and family the job. They worked the Sept. weekand ends. Then the roof contractors lighting crew came in and worked the next week installing the lighting grid. The aircraft mechanics were REALLY grateful, though, because Oct. 9 Columbus Day dawned stormy. In fact, the rising storm spotlighted some unusually ominous clouds headed in from the west. But, the sprinklers were done and operational. The got the in the northwest dock about 10 minutes before the storm hit. That was the start of that really bad rainstorm it rained in some places for four days and Hill was no was dry, though, and that is what exception. The counted big. The sprinkler replacement crew had also kept ahead of the lighting grid, and suggested that they continue so that the lighting grid would not have to be untied or get-togethe- rs 16-1- 7 23-2- 4 tow-cre- C-1- 30 w C-1- 30 delayed. Permission was given, and an augmented crew of eight men on as many lifts completed the rest of the fire sprinklers in another two weekends: the holiday weekend of the Oct. 9 and 14-1More Victualic couto had be on the eastern third. On one plings replaced riser all the couplings leaked. All fire sprinklers are now operational and no pipes leak. The improvements allowed the branch to do three more aircraft on time. The work that was done by the fire suppression crew saved thousands of dollars due to the fact that they were able to complete the hanger at a cost far less than if we had to use an outside contractor. The workload for the would have been delayed causing a loss of 7-- 5. C-1- C-1- B by Capt. Michael Braibish 12th Air Force Public Affairs DAVIS-MONTHA- ht AFB, Ariz. (AFPN) N For the second time in as many competitions top flying honors went to AFBs 355th Wing Nov. 17, with the 357th Fighter Squadron claiming the Davis-Montha- n Top Team award at Gila Bomb 00-2- , a bombing competition sponsored by 12th Air Force. The Top Wrench for best maintenance team went to the aircraft maintainers of the 34th Fighter Squadron, 388th Fighter Wing, at Hill AFB, Utah. Although a few teams were singled out for superior performance, Lt. Gen. Tom Hobbins, 12th Air Force commander, said shacks, or exactly bombs, were among the elements showing how close the competition was. After reviewing the scores. Ive seen the incredible capability man and machine have when working as a team, Hobbins said. Shacks and d timing permeate the results. on-targ- split-secon- et On the maintenance side, tight checklists, solid pre-- and post-flig(inspections) , and flawless integration of dissimilar aircraft on one ramp validate our current capabilities. All bombs dropped were scored within 15 meters of the target, Hobbins said. . Youve shown me that perfection is the norm, Hobbins said to the participants. It gives me great pride to be here with all of you. When the competition was over, 46 sorties were flown, 263 training bombs were dropped, and more than 3,200 rounds fired from guns on the Barry Goldwater Military Range in Southwest Arizona. The first Gila Bomb competition, 00-was held in June; Gila Bomb 00--2 continued the theme of a comallowed that aviators and maintainers petition to prove themselves while building cama1, come-as-you-a- re raderie among the competitors. Maintainers put their focus on putting planes in the air while aviators focused on putting fire and steel on target. Lt. Gen. Doc Foglesong, the Air Force deputy chief of staff for air and space oper- ations at the Pentagon, started the competition during his tenure as the 12th Air Force commander. He returned to his former command at AFB to present awards to the top teams. Im delighted to be back, Foglesong said. This is a great opportunity for aviators and maintainers to get together and do what they do best. Although the competition was open to U.S. Air Force fighter teams around the world, only teams from the continental United States participated. While the Air Force considers restoring competition mainstays such as William Tell and Gunsmoke, 12th Air Force will plan for its next command-sponsoreDavis-Montha- n d competition, Gila Bomb 01-- which is tentatively scheduled for May 18. The winners of this competition were: 1, Gila Bomb Top Team: 357th FS, 355th Wing, n AFB, Ariz. 62nd FS, 56th FW, Luke Top AFB, Ariz. Top 0 Team: 357th FS, 355th Wing. Davis-Montha- A-1- Top Gun (best overall): Maj. John Dyck and Capt. EricTrychon, 391st FS, 366th Wing, Mountain Home AFB, Idaho. E, Top Gun: Capt. Brian Turner, 34th FS, 388th FW, Hill AFB, Utah. F-1- 6 Gun: Maj. Carlos Honesty, 357th FS, 355th Wing. Gun Crew: Maj. John Dyck and Capt. EricTrychon, 391st FS, 366th Wing. Gun: Maj. Whitey Taber, 8th FS, 49th FW, Holloman AFB, NM. Best High-Dra- g Bomb: Capt. Craig Hollis, 61st FS, 56th FW. Low-Dra- g Best Bomb: Lt. Col. Brian Maas, 358th FS, 355th Wing. Best Dive Bomb: Maj. Skip Langford, 4th FS, 388th FW. Best Strafe: Maj. Kevin Jens, Low-Angl- e, Low-Angl- e, Low-Ang- le 34th FS, 388th FW. t: Best 9th FS, 49th FW Time-on-Targe- Lt. Col. Jeff Baker, Top Wrench (best maintenance team): 34th P'S, 388th FW. Top Wrench: Staff Sgt. Ronnie Briscoe, 34th FS, 388th FW. Top Wrench: Senior Arman Matt F-1- 6 E Risse, 391 st FS, 366th Wing. Wrench: Arman 1st Class Phillip Turner, 357th FS, 355th Wing. (Courtesy of Ar Combat Command News Service) |