European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 4, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                July 1985 the stars and stripes Page 9 its a Tough Day for Sherpa Crews stories and photos by Dave Diehl Bureau grueling might be a Good word for the daily England run flown by the aircrews of the 10th military Airlift so in the air forces newest the c23a the Crews Start their Days at Raf eng with a and from the time the Threeman Crews show at their air plane two hours  be looking at spending 11 hours in their air plane shuttling equipment and aircraft parts to All of the american air Force bases in England before they return to their Home base in the new air planes were bought by the service to pro vide the transportation for the new european distribution the system was devised by air Force experts to keep More european air planes and equipment working longer and and Safe officials say it will improve readiness by cutting the time it takes to get spares to their the Crews from the 10th Fly the England circuit at least five Days a second Mark a Pilot with the said members of any one Crew could find themselves on the run twice a he said Crews arrive in England the Day before they make a on the Day they the team members Start at Raf Mildenhall and end up at we Bruecken he said each Crew can expect to spend up to 16 hours on the Job those the Crews of the 10th also Fly similar routes in North Ern Germany and Alterio said the Germany run includes about As Many bases As the England he said the Crews Stop at four bases in one in Sicily and at Aviano although the eds Mission in the Sherpa is it int As bad As spending Long hours in the cockpit of the air forces larger Long haul c141 according to Don one of the pilots at the 10th Mili tary Airlift so and a former Star lifter he says hed rather Fly the Sherpa Short hops around Europe than endure the tedium of flying the transcontinental routes on the bigger Alterio says the Days Are but the Sherpa is an easy plane to Fly and is equipped to Fly the Shorter euro Prean routes in All kinds of this air plane has some of the Best avionics in the air Alterio the sophisticated according to make the Long missions a Little easier on the he said the c23a can be programmed to Fly itself with its computer aided navigation system and can almost get from its starting Point to its destination without a outside of Landing and taking the air plane can be put on Auto Pilot for most Alterio to the rear of the cockpit sits what May be the most important element of the Sherpa he is what the air Force Calls the flight or flight its an abbreviated term for a combination flight Crew chief and Load master a Jack of All said staff Russ Bessom a flight Mechanic with the its three jobs rolled into Bessom he said that the Short flights Between the bases make his Job Bessom said the c23as Are a simple air plane to work on from a mechanics Point of its a maintenance he its engineered with the maintenance Man in Alterio said that one of the reasons the air Force picked aircraft was for its ability to Fly in just about any Type of the pilots say that aspect is an important one with the bad weather in flying in weather is nothing with this Alterio theres so much stuff to Back you its a lot of hard he but we enjoy these Are super flight Mechanic staff Russ Bessom left talks with Mechanic in training tech John Workhorse c23a delivers equipment and aircraft parts to the american air Force in Raf Kemble is middleman7 for air Force parts Raf England this tiny base has become a focal if not a for Many of the air Force bases in the european the base is perched on a Rise in the cotswolds in the southwestern part of where one of the largest and most innovative ideas in the air forces Logis tics operations is taking its Here that the air forces newest the c23a Load up twice a As Many As seven Days a the people who run the european distribution system say that when it is in full swing a few years from the air Force will be conquering a problem that has plagued it in the european theater since world War the most important purpose of the eds is to get equip ment and supplies to grounded aircraft that need one of the biggest say air Force is getting the nuts and computer units and aircraft tires from the supplier to the Jet on the flight the answer lies in what the air Force has built Here Forward Stockage location what the service has according to Don the director of is create a we Are an Extension of the stateside Rich the parts he keeps on his shelves would be sitting in warehouses in the United states if they we rent at he by moving them closer to their destinations in Rich and air Force officials figure they will be Able to increase the fighting capability of Safe aircraft by 800 combat missions a Day with savings that May run into millions of by the end of the Rich those items will have expanded to in five to Rich said the 80 shipments of parts and equipment that the 139 people Here work to put out every Day will increase As inventories Rich said that the Kemble site was a Handy one for the air with Square feet of storage a Good runway and facilities the base was recently the Home of the British Aerial demonstration the red right now the Fly is operating out of Only two of the Many available hangars that stand on the Terry the nato logistics plans chief at Ramstein said the eds is a three part system one involving the regular military Airlift come missions and the c23as a logistics operation and a com Mand control system that tie the Safe bases together by Berle said the eds should be in full operation by right the system is working with 11 of the 18 air planes it has agreed to buy from Short who make the he said the c23a Crews Are already performing important missions in the United kingdom and but when the eds is in full swing in the entire Safe air base system will be covered by the planes almost every Day of the Torrejon and the City of Ger will also have according to he said that one of the main reasons those three bases were chosen As fils is because they will be less vulnerable to attack during he said the eds will take on a different look in time of Berle said that the c23as will then do a lot of the work that the larger c141s and c130s Are doing because those aircraft will be used largely to move troops and Berle said one of the main reasons the air Force picked the made in Northern was be cause of its ability to land and take off on Short Berle said the fact that the c23a can land in less than feet of runway was critical because of wartime dam age expected to Many of the Safe he said that capability will allow the Sherpa to land at Many More airfields than the larger Mac transport we expect to be Able to land at most of our airfields during he