F‐106 Delta Dart
Air to Air Refueling Kit Proofing Joe Sylvia, Convair Tech Rep 22 Jan 2015
A story very few people know about especially today. When we did the Air to Air Refueling Kit Proofing at McClellan, AFB we did it on the Proto Type A/C that was accomplished at San Antonio, TX. It was flown in from Kelly, AFB with all its raw installation of the A‐A installation. Its purpose was to prove that it would work on the F‐106. I had several Engineers and Tech Writers because we Kit Proofed an A Model and a B Model simultaneously. In addition to the GD/ Convair personnel we had Engineers & writers from Kelly AFB. Some areas under the Pan assembly were so wide open Kelly just filled the gaps with Mil‐S‐ 8802 Sealant. Again this was just to prove the feasibility of the modification. So now with the Kit proofing we had to undo this installation and design an installation that is compatible good engineering principals. All this took time and effort which turned out magnificent. We GD/Convair & Kelly would meet each evening to decide who pay for the required changes. Example: Stan Bering from Convair called me at home and questioned why Kelly, AFB was paying for this expensive change. I told we (Convair Personnel) insisted that it was our responsibility but Kelly, personnel persisted it was there responsibility. I told Stan look at it this way except what we send you because in the long run it will even out. He agreed! Now comes the gritty part, when everything was assembled we had to do a water check to make sure the structure didn’t leak fuel into the Hot Refrigeration Compartment. Well we all observed the installation and everything looked great except during the leak check water did leak into the Refrig Area. In fact, about the eight time I said I’m confident this it will work I climbed into the Refrig compartment with my white shirt & tie. They pressurized the water and everything looked real good except when I opened my mouth say its good, here comes the water‐‐‐I got a good dowsing. This repeat performance when on to about 13 times. This is when I believe it was Hugo Stein said looks like we’ll have to cancel this Mod. I said wait until I call Convair before you make
your decision. I called Stan Berling and he said I’ll get back to you shortly. He called back and said—I don’t remember the man’s name‐‐‐will be coming up on PSA flight arriving in Sacramento this afternoon around 4 PM with only a shaving Kit. I picked him up and explained what was happening and then asked if he wanted to get a Motel room first and he said no lets go to the A/C first I think I know what’s the problem. We did that and he told them to disassemble the structure but don’t paint the bare metal with Zinc Chromate paint. At the time Zinc Chromate was used throughout the Aircraft industry as a corrosion preventative. I picked him up the next morning and he applied a thin coat of –8802 to all the bare surface. WALLA‐‐‐‐NO LEAK. He explained that ‐8802 is a corrosion preventative in itself. The Zinc Chromate didn’t have time enough to cure preventing the ‐8802 from sticking to the metal. All Kit Proofing Mods all had numerous changes but in the long run they enhanced the 106’s capability which sustained its longevity.