C-5s to undergo nose gear repairs

When the second C-5 landed in Spain with a nose gear failure in less than two months, Dover AFB was quick to stand their aircraft down to investigate the problem. Now all 56 C-5A and M model aircraft are being directed to have the ball screw joint replaced in the nose gear.

Each aircraft has two ball screw joint assemblies in the nose gear. They work in tandem to move the nose gear. If one fails, the gear doesn't extend. In addition to the replacement, all aircraft are being restricted from kneeling except when required to for the mission they are on.

www.defensenews.com...

a reply to: Zaphod58

That is interesting. I live in northeastern oklahoma, and I saw one of these behemoths making an approach to either the nearby air Base, or tulsa international airport. This was two days ago. I do not know anything about how the maintenance scheduling for these aircraft works. Do they pull all of them in and ground them until the work is done, or does a section of the fleet get repaired at a time to keep some in the air? I have never seen one of those so low, and the size was unbelievable!

a reply to: Benderisfunny

It depends on a number of factors. In the case of Dover, they're being repaired before they're being returned to flight. They currently have five done. Both aircraft that suffered the failure were from there. In the case of the rest of the fleet, it will be done as they become available from other missions.

a reply to: Zaphod58
Nice that they found the problem and are able to rectify it fairly quickly.

a reply to: butcherguy

I'm surprised it only took two weeks. Gear problems can be a massive pain in the ass. Especially with that many failure points.

The grounding has been extended to all C-5 aircraft, except the five at Dover that have undergone repairs.

I'll have to check in with some of my friends who work at Westover AFRB in MA.

a reply to: charolais

The initial article said all 51 remaining, then I started seeing articles about just San Antonio. There's quite a bit of confusion, so if you can a chance to, please and thank you.