Extending the Portfolio:

The 76th Maintenance Wing at Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center on Jan. 16 received the first-ever FAA repair station certificate for a DOD facility. The certificate allows the center, located at Tinker AFB, Okla., to perform paint workload on the KC-10 tanker aircraft. The work consists of stripping exterior paint, checking for corrosion, and repainting the aircraft. Since the KC-10 has civil origins as a derivative of the DC-10 passenger airliner, any and all repair work has to be certified by the FAA. In fact prior to the new certification, work on the KC-10 had been contracted to a non-military entity. The first KC-10 arrived at Tinker Jan. 3, and between seven and nine Extenders will enter the center each year. The paintwork on each aircraft is expected to take 25 days from start to finish. (Tinker report by Brandice Armstrong)