TOP STORY>>Fat Albert comes to 2012 Air Show

Hey, hey, hey! Mechanics at the Rock have gotten a chance to tinker with Fat Albert before he performs at the Little Rock Air Force Base Airshow and Open House on Sept. 8-9.

Thankfully for the Airmen of the 314th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron -21/Dual Rails shop, they didn’t have to treat the obese, slang talking cartoon character from television, but worked on the world-famous C-130 from the Blue Angels.

The -21/Dual Rails shop at Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark., maintains 24 hour, seven day a week operations on the base flight line. The -21 shop is responsible for maintenance of the 314th Airlift Wing’s C-130 fleet, and handles approximately 10 calls a day for maintenance needs ranging from problems with the bull-dog winches (used to pull cargo or vehicles onto the aircraft,) dual rail locks, airdrop malfunctions or loose equipment, (which consists of more than 600 items.)

The dual rails responsibility in the -21 shop is to remove rails and rollers from the aircraft and disassemble, clean, inspect and rebuild them before reinstalling them. One of the many planes inspected and maintained by the dual rails shop is the renowned Fat Albert, a C-130 known for transporting the Blue Angels.

The Blue Angels maintenance and support crew travel aboard a Marine Corps C-130 Hercules aircraft, affectionately known as “Fat Albert.” This C-130 is a tactical transport aircraft built by Lockheed Martin and is flown by an all-Marine crew consisting of three pilots and five enlisted aircrew.

First integrated into the team in 1970, Fat Albert now flies more than 100,000 miles each season carrying 45 maintenance and support personnel along with the specialized equipment needed to complete a successful air show.

The Blue Angels are scheduled to fly 69 air shows at 35 air show sites in North America during the 2012 season, as the team celebrates its 26th year of flying the F/A-18 Hornet. The Blue Angels will headline the open house and air show at Little Rock Air Force Base scheduled for Sept. 8 and 9.

The mission of the Blue Angels is to enhance Navy recruiting, and credibly represent Navy and Marine Corps aviation to the United States and its armed forces to America and other countries as international ambassadors of good will.

(Courtesy of 19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs)