Flights Part Of Military And FAA Certification Program

A Boeing KC-46A Pegasus team conducted testing at Travis Air Force Base from March 7-10, 2017.

This testing was a combined effort between Boeing Test and Evaluation, and the Detachment 1, 418th Flight Test Squadron, which are co-located at the Boeing Facility in Seattle.

“The KC-46A is at Travis AFB to conduct military and FAA certification testing,” said Capt. Dylan Neidorff, a 418th FLTS KC-46 test operations engineer. The team of 48 Boeing and four Air Force personnel accomplished both ground and flight testing during the four-day trip.

“We decided to come to Travis since the base is right in the temperature band required for the testing,” Neidorff said. Historical temperatures in Northern California average between 50-70 degrees.

Aside from the ideal temperatures, other factors made Travis AFB the best choice. “Because of this type of testing, we needed to offload all of our fuel. Travis has underground tanks, which makes it infinitely easier,” said Paul Briedé, the test director for Boeing Test and Evaluation. “At another base we would’ve needed at least four other fuel trucks.”

“We also saw Travis AFB as a target of opportunity since they are to be one of the next KC-46 bases for (Air Mobility Command),” Neidorff said.

In January, Air Force officials announced Travis AFB, as well as Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, as preferred locations for the next active-duty-led bases for the service’s most modern aerial-refueling aircraft.

Since a KC-46 had never landed at Travis AFB, the 60th Operations Support Squadron first needed to figure out how it could support. “We did the proper research,” said Maj. Matthew Bartomeo, a 60th OSS assistant director of operations. “Travis can absorb requests like this because we are built to do it.”

The airfield on base runs 24/7 operations, 365 days a year. It has one of the busiest aerial port squadrons in the Air Force and regularly supports transient aircraft.

Bartomeo and Maj. Brad Echols, also an ADO with the 60th OSS, worked with Det. 1, 418th FLTS to ensure the KC-46 would have fuel availability, a parking space and required maintenance supplies. “The 60th OSS has been our one-stop shop for contacts around the base as well as the center of the planning effort to bring the tanker to Travis,” Niedorff said.

Airfield management and air traffic control professionals along with members of the 60th Maintenance Group supported with supplies the tanker team needed while on base. The 60th Logistics Readiness Squadron also helped to ensure the KC-46 had the current fuels, Niedorff added.

“We embodied that ‘there are no bounds’ here at Travis,” Bartomeo said, referencing the 60th Air Mobility Wing’s motto. “We found a way to make it happen.”

When the KC-46 team wasn’t conducting testing, it provided tours to more than 40 Airmen from the 60th AMW. “This was an opportunity to work with Boeing and create a relationship,” Echols said. “It’s pretty exciting our Airmen got to see the new aircraft.”

According to Air Force officials, the first KC-46As are expected to begin arriving at McConnell AFB, Kansas, and Altus AFB, Oklahoma, in fall 2017.

(Image provided with USAF news release)

FMI: www.af.mil