Vance AFB Mechs Converting From T-37 To T-6A

The future is sitting in Hanger 129 at Vance AFB in Enid, OK.

In this case, the future comes in the form of two Raytheon T-6A Texan II aircraft. They're not being flown by the USAF student pilots at Vance -- yet. Instead, they've been sent over by Moody AFB in Georgia as training beds for the DynCorp Technical Services contractors who will maintain them.

The Enid News & Eagle reports the turboprop Texans are the first new aircraft on the ramp at Vance in 11 years. The Cessna T-37 "Tweet" (if you've ever heard a T-37 rev up, the distinctive whistling sound will tell you all you need to know about how the aircraft got its nickname) is about to meet the Texan.

As excited as they are to get their hands on the new bird, the student pilots and their instructors will have to wait until May before the Texans fly at Vance. Until then, the mechanics own the Texans and will spend the next several weeks going over every control surface, every power component and every piece of avionics until they're completely familiar with the T-6A.

Jeff Kliewer has worked on the Tweet for more than 20 years between a stint in the Air Force and working for the civilian contractor at Vance. He said he is eager for the challenge of learning to repair the T-6.

"I've been waiting on this aircraft since I was in the Air Force, a new aircraft, because the fleet was pretty old back then," he said. "We were supposed to get the T-46 then and it was shot down, the Air Force didn't take it," Dyncorp employee Jeff Kliewer told the Enid paper.

Of course, with a fleet of new Texans scooting around the ramp, things will be a little different at Vance. Safety considerations are least among those differences. Just ask lead mechanic Ken Girty.

"We'll have to be careful of where we're walking," said Girty. "Before we worried about walking behind the jet and now we have to worry about the prop spinning up front. But most everyone is real safety conscious out here."

The T-37 went into service in 1956. Because the aircraft are so old, finding parts hasn't been easy for the likes of Girty and Kliewer. But that, of course, won't be a problem with the T-6As.

 "This is going to be a little different just in the concept of line replacement units versus us having to do all the maintenance on the parts ourselves," Girty said. "We just take a part out, put a new one in and go."

Girty and Kliewer are among the first class of eight learning how to maintain the T-6A at Vance. They'll help teach the other Dyncorp technicians on the aircraft. But Kliewer isn't so sure he wants to see the Tweet turned out to pasture.

"I hate to see it go," said Kliewer. "The people who have high time on them, they know the system real well. Now you're starting over. You've got to be willing to take the change," he told the News & Eagle. "It (the T-37) is still a good airplane. Hopefully, this is just as good."

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