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by Wayne Crenshaw
78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

1/19/2010 – ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. – A new rewire flight at Robins is playing a key role in keeping the aging F-15 Eagle flying for years to come.

The flight will perform a complete rewire on 122 F-15s during the next five years. The rewiring will be done on C and D models, and when complete, the flight will spend at least another five years working on E models.

Keith Gilstrap, the rewire flight chief, said the reason for the rewire is that the insulation on the existing wire is getting brittle and causing shorts. Although it has not caused any crashes, it has led to a significant amount of field repair time and false troubleshooting, as technicians try to figure out why aircraft systems fail intermittently, he said.