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VRC-40 Welcomes Return of First Rewired C-2A

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS051219-10
12/19/2005

By Journalist 1st Class Jennifer Crenshaw, Commander, Naval Air Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet Public Affairs

NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VRC) 40 celebrated the return of the first rewired C-2A Greyhound in a ceremony Dec. 14 at their hangar at Naval Station Norfolk, Va.

At a cost of about $1.6 million and approximately one year per plane, replacing the old kapton wiring in the aircraft will make them safer to fly.

“When the wiring gets old, it tends to get brittle, crack and possibly cause arcing, especially in chafing areas,” said Jimmy Fingerle, the co-lead of the C-2A Integrated Product Team (IPT) at Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR).

Lt. Cmdr. Sean McDermott, the other C-2A IPT co-lead, explained the potential danger of the old wiring, comparing it to the arcing portrayed in cartoon gunpowder scenes.

“It’s like in the cartoons when they light the gunpowder,” he said. “The spark [would] literally travel through the entire aircraft. And, as if that’s not bad enough, the wiring [would emit] a poisonous gas while burning.”

VRC-40's concern isn’t limited to the safety of its air crew and aircraft, however. They are the only East Coast squadron assigned to transport distinguished visitors to carriers.

“We don’t just fly Sailors and contractors to and from the carriers. We do the same with Sailors’ wives, senators, community leaders, and their first impression is coming to the naval base, being briefed for the ride out to the carrier and then getting onto the C-2,” said Cmdr. Brad Brown, commanding officer of VRC-40. “With all that in mind, safety is the most important asset we have. There can never be a failure. Typically, we go through a strenuous day-to-day safety chain getting the airplanes ready to fly. We never fly a plane that’s not ready to go.”

In addition to replacing all the wiring, NAVAIR also updated all the publications for the Greyhound.

“As they did the wiring replacement, [NAVAIR] also went through and updated the publications, making troubleshooting and fixing the aircraft that much easier,” said Lt. Drew Helmreich, a pilot for VRC-40. "Now, if there is one little connector in the aircraft that isn’t working, our maintainers can find it and trace it in the books.”

All C-2 Greyhounds in the fleet will have their wiring replaced at Naval Air Depot North Island, Calif., and the program should be completed by 2012 at the rate of five aircraft per year. The rewiring, along with the service life extension program (SLEP), will keep the C-2s in service until 2020.