C-130s undergoing special wing inspections

[unhappycamper]

C-130s undergoing special wing inspections
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Mar 5, 2009 20:46:37 EST

ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. — Hundreds of C-130 Hercules transport planes, the cargo workhorse of the U.S. Air Force and other military forces around the world, were being inspected Thursday for potential problems with nuts that attach the wings to the fuselage, officials said.

The planes weren’t technically grounded, but the wing joint barrel nuts would be scrutinized on 528 four-engine turboprops, said Roger Drinnon, a spokesman for the Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois.

The inspections come after routine depot maintenance Wednesday of a C-130 at Georgia’s Robins Air Force Base found cracks on some of the plane’s upper right wing barrel nuts.

The inspection involves only the older “legacy” models, and not the newer C-130J, which first came on line in 1999, Drinnon said.

Other branches of the U.S. military and dozens of other countries use the aircraft.


Rest of article at: http://airforcetimes.com/news/2009/03/ap_c130_inspections_030509/%2e