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HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah -- In the air-cooled section of the 309th Generator Squadron's airborne flight, Casey Maw uses a sanding disk to clean the outer casing of a C-5 Galaxy generator. The flight is responsible for restoring more than 4,200 aircraft generators a year. (U.S. Air Force photo by Beth Young)

Photo by Beth Young

Creating power behind airpower

11 Mar 2005 | Beth Young

If aircraft are the power behind the Air Force, then Hill supplies the power behind the power.

When a generator, which supplies all electrical power to an aircraft, needs to be repaired, it will most likely end up in the 309th Electronics Generator Squadron's airborne flight here.

"We support the entire Air Force, doing repairs on everything from the F-16 (Fighting Falcon) to the C-130 (Hercules)," said Dale Ballard, generator flight chief. "We take care of anything that flies in the Air Force pretty much, and the Navy, too."

More than 4,200 aircraft generators arrive broken at the one-of-a-kind shop each year broken, and leave ready to give the Air Force the power to fly.

The shop works on rotors, one part of a generator, as small as a couple ounces to 200 pounds for a B-52 Statofortress generator. One aircraft can have as many as five generators -- one for each engine and a back up in case that one fails.

"It's not like a car; if a generator goes out. they can't just pull over," said Larry Hatch, a generator technician. "They need a back up until they can get to the ground."

As each generator comes in, they are separated by type -- either oil-cooled or air-cooled -- and then taken apart. A generator has five main parts: the housing or case, the rotor, the exciter stator, main stator and permanent magnet generator.

"The basic idea is that the exciter stator, main stator and PMG put out a magnetic field and the rotor spins inside of it. This combination creates electrical current that powers the plane," Mr. Hatch said.

Once the generator has been taken apart, it is diagnosed to see what repairs are needed. The shop employees fix everything from replacing a broken solder joint to a total overhaul.

"You can have all the fancy equipment and nice tools, but without the manpower and expertise to do perform the work, it doesn't mean anything," said Bill Tews, airborne flight chief. "The crew is the heart and soul of the workload."

After the repair has been finished by one of the shop's 125 employees, it is put through a final test that simulates the running conditions of an aircraft. Once it passes this test, the generator is painted and ready to be put back into the aircraft.

Without this shop, some aircraft would never get off the ground, such as the T-38 Talon, an older aircraft that new generators are no longer made for. Although the people who work on the generators never see their work in action, they said they know it is important.

"There's satisfaction in knowing the airplanes we supply parts for are the ones that support the troops," Mr. Hatch said.