Remodeled KC-10 returns home

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Donna T. Jeffries
  • 514th Air Mobility Wing
MCGUIRE AIR FORCE BASE, N.J. --  After several attempts to repair a replica of a KC-10 Extender, Nov. 4, residents of the Reserve KC-10 squadron building here were finally able to hang the new and improved model.

A wing, broken by accident, damaged the original 6-foot model that graced the entryway of Building 1829 more than five years ago. Since the incident, three attempts were made to fix the damage.

Success was found in the fourth attempt through Herb Corder, a 26-year United States Air Force veteran who currently works for FlightSafety Services Corporation here. In addition to being a KC-10 instructor flight engineer for the past 21 years, Mr. Corder has 40 years of experience in refinishing antique and building new furniture. Corder's skills were put to use to repair the KC-10 model that had substantial damage by the time it was brought to him.

"Both wings, wing engines and the horizontal and vertical stabilizers were broken," said Mr. Corder. He also had to build a new air refueling boom and salvage items from two boxes of old parts that came with the damaged model he said.

Going a step further, Mr. Corder also hand-painted all the decals and improved the original model by wiring the aircraft to illuminate the boom nozzle, leading edge, logo, as well as the position, navigation and anti-collision beacon lights.

More than 150 hours spread over three months produced the model on display today. "After I got started on it, I couldn't stop," said Mr. Corder, describing how he could be found in his garage workshop working into the wee hours of the morning. "The Reserve has a good group of people in it and I didn't mind doing it," he said.

Corder's hard work was well-received by those who assisted with the re-hanging of the building's aerial display.

"It's like an old friend returning home," said Chief Master Sgt. Walter Reed," senior enlisted aircrew manager, 514th Operations Group. "Everyone has been excited over its return and its excellent condition with the modifications." Chief Reed is the person responsible for getting Mr. Corder to fix the damaged model.

"It's great - we're so happy to have it back in the building," said Maj. Mark Johnson a KC-10 pilot with the 76th Air Refueling Squadron. "It represents what we do everyday, it's the plane we fly."

"It's weird seeing it after all these years with it being gone," said Senior Master Sgt. William Rahiser, a flight engineer with the 78th Air Refueling Squadron.

As with the original KC-10s built in 1981, the display aircraft sports a white top that older squadron members flew through the late 1980s when the color scheme was replaced with the all gray version that we see today.

The restored model means more to the KC-10 units than meets the eye; it also doubles as a time capsule, hoarding unit coins, patches and scarves from the 514th OG and from the 76th ARS and 78th ARS said Mr. Corder. It also completes the remaining USAF KC-10 fleet, he added. "I gave the model the tail number of the only KC-10 to be lost in the fleet," he said.

On September 17, 1987 aircraft tail number 82-0190 was lost after an explosion and subsequent fire which occurred during refueling of the aircraft on the ground at Shreveport-Barksdale Air Force Base, La. One ground crew member died in the accident. The Shreveport-Barksdale incident was the only loss to the current KC-10 fleet of 59 aircraft, giving the KC-10 the best safety record of any USAF aircraft, according to the Wikipedia encyclopedia Website.