Cutlines

Artisans hoist the wing center section off the C-2. Photo by Bill Bartkus

The wing center section is placed on a fixture in Hangar 460. Photo by Bill Bartkus

Artisans pull wing pins on first Greyhound: SLEP under way

By Bill Bartkus

One by one, Greyhounds are arriving at Naval Air Depot North Island. They’re coming for a brief rest and will stay in Building 460. When they leave, they will be well rested and will be capable of “running” for an additional 15,000 hours.
These particular Greyhounds are not the sleek, four-legged type with a tail, but the “four-tire” type with a tail. These Greyhounds are Navy Carrier Onboard Delivery (COD) aircraft, more commonly known in Navy air lingo as C-2A.
The Navy has only 36 C-2As in its fleet and their original life span of 10,000 flight hours and 15,000 landings is near an end. Artisans at NADEP North Island are prolonging their further use through the Structural Life Enhancement Program (SLEP). When each aircraft has been modified, the C-2A – the world’s only fixed wing aircraft to fly cargo and personnel out to aircraft carriers at sea will be capable of flying up to 15,000 flight hours and 36,000 landings.
“There has been a lot of preparation for this SLEP. We’ve nicknamed the C-2 the Super Greyhound so we can keep up with the Hornets,” said Jerry Ferraro, Code 6.2.1.2, C-2A Airframes Branch manager, during a commemoration to mark the removal of the wing center section of the first C-2A to be inducted into SLEP. “We’re looking forward to performing this task,” Ferraro told Depot artisans and guests from Air Transport Squadron 30. He said that NADEP North Island engineers, the Strategic Business Unit (SBU) Office, and Program Manager Assistants (PMAs) from tenant commands aboard the air station put in a lot of hard work toward making SLEP come to fruition.
“There are no limits to what we can do fixing airplanes. What we’re doing today for the future of the C-2A is absolutely incredible,” said NADEP North Island Commanding Officer Capt. Pete Laszcz. “There is no one in the world who can fix C-2s like our NADEP artisans. We own the entire airplane from nose to tail, engineering, every nut and bolt.” Laszcz said that the C-2 is absolutely vital to the success of naval aviation. “Without the C-2, carriers could not get the parts they need out there at sea on the pointy edge of the spear.”
He said that even though C-2s do not get as much glory as the F/A-18, “the Greyhound is every bit as important as the Hornet. The difficulty in maintaining an aircraft of such a small population and with such an old airframe is incredible and the Depot artisans perform so well that it is absolutely mind-boggling. NADEP North Island is the best provider of aircraft services in the world today. What we do here at the Depot is a tribute to the men and women at (NAVAIR) North Island and our fleet partners as we press forward on this important SLEP that will extend the life of the Greyhound into the future and really become a vital element of the future of naval aviation.”
Artisans then pulled the four pins of the aircraft’s wing center section and lifted it by crane and placed it on a fixture next to the C-2 in Building 460. “The first one is done and we have 35 more to go,” said Ferraro. He estimates that SLEP will take about eight years to complete all 36 C-2As.