The Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department’s Tire and Wheel Work Center 51E, or tire shop, on board USS Abraham Lincoln
(CVN 72) assures that every aircraft has well-built wheel assemblies on them. Since the beginning of cruise in mid-March, Abe’s
tire shop has validated more than 376 wheels as “Ready For Issue.”
The tire shop performs inspections, breakdowns, repairs, and reassembly of aircraft tire and wheel assemblies for aircraft deployed
with Carrier Air Wing 2 embarked on CVN 72, said Chief Aviation Structural Mechanic (AW) Mike McBride, of Wichita, Kan., the branch
chief for the tire shop.
“The tire shop plays a major role toward mission success by providing for the rapid repair and return to service of multiple tire and
wheel assemblies needed for every aircraft aboard CVN 72,” McBride said.
The work the eight Sailors from the tire shop do is similar to what you see done at a local tire shop when a car gets its tires replaced
except, there are some minor differences said Aviation Structural Mechanic 1st Class (AW) Yaughn M. Deardorff, of Darrington,
Wash., the work center supervisor.
“When an aircraft wheel becomes worn it is our job to take the inducted worn-out wheel assembly from supply, and return it into a
‘Ready For Issue’ state, or RFI for short,” Deardorff said.
“Aircraft wheels can weigh several hundred pounds in some cases and they are inflated as much as 10 times higher than a car tire,”
Deardorff said. “Unlike a car tire, where the tire is stretched over the rim, aircraft rims are built with many pieces that must be
carefully assembled.”
When the aviation structural mechanics have all the parts needed, they are ready to rebuild the wheel.  They replace the old tire
with the new one and, once everything is reassembled, they inflate the wheel assemblies in a large, heavily built steel box called
the inflation cage, Deardorff said.
“This is where we run the wheels up to their test pressures, which are as high as 400 pounds per square inch,” Deardorff said.
“The wheels are placed within the cage for our safety, should there be anything wrong with the assembly, it can blow up like a
bomb.”
After the tire has passed its pressure test, it is then reduced to storage pressure.  The tires are then packaged with all the necessary
items such as bearings, grease seals, RFI tag, deflator tag, and completed Maintenance Action Forms, and are sent back to Supply
to be placed in the storeroom until they are needed by a squadron, Deardorff said.
“We are all proud to be a part of a greater team that makes it possible for the men and women on the beach fighting this war to
have ‘angels over their heads’ protecting them every day,” Deardorff said.
Lincoln is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations to support Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom as well as
Maritime Security Operations (MSO).  Operations in the 5th Fleet area of responsibility are focused on reassuring regional partners
of the United States commitment to security, which promotes stability and global prosperity.