Kirtland's Propulsion Flight focal point for servicing AF's helicopter engines

  • Published
  • By Kendahl Johnson
  • 377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  There's one central focal point for all T400 engine maintenance and it's known affectionately at Kirtland as the "Queen Bee."

It's the T400/T700 section of the 58th Maintenance Squadron's Propulsion Flight. The unique section - which consists of two civilians, two Guardsmen and eight active duty - works on the Pratt & Whitney T400 engine found in the UH-1N Huey helicopters and the General Electric T700 engine found in the HH-60 Pavehawk.

"We call it the Queen Bee because the queen is the central focus of the hive, and we are the center for all T400 engine maintenance," said Master Sgt. Steven Bousquet, Propulsion Flight chief. "We tear down and build up every T400 in the Department of Defense. We are the only unit that maintains and tests these engines."

In addition, the section is one of three stateside bases - with Davis Monthan and Nellis as the others - that services the T700 engine, but is the only base in the Air Force to test the T700. With both engines, they support 12 bases across six different major commands.

The T400 engines are delivered to Kirtland fully assembled, about six to eight engines per month. The crew takes about two days to tear them down. In six to eight days, the problems are fixed and the engines are rebuilt. Another two days of testing, and the overhauled engines are sent back to the warfighter.

Tech. Sgt. Carlos Lucero, a maintainer in the flight, said there is a much quicker turnaround time for the T700.

"The T700 is sort of a 'plug and play' engine. It's designed to need fewer specialty parts and can be fixed with limited tools and people," he said.

Bousquet said the time it takes to get the engine back in the field can sometimes be prolonged if a necessary part is difficult to obtain, but the average amount of time was reduced, in part, because of an Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century event in August.

"We reduced our turnaround time significantly," Bousquet said. "We streamlined the shop maintenance and test cell process, cutting our production days down by a week."

In total, the event helped the section save $32,000 and 816 man hours annually.

2nd Lt. Karlie Taylor, flight commander, said the event was successful in increasing productivity, but the credit really goes to the workers.

"We have a really hard working group of people," Taylor said. "They love what they do and they take their jobs seriously. It's their hard work and dedication that makes the shop run so effectively and efficiently."

Bousquet agreed.

"We work with great individuals who are dedicated to their jobs," he said. "Without them, would not be successful."