McConnell AFB spins innovation into mission wins

A homegrown tool at McConnell Air Force Base is speeding up the way maintainers refinish aircraft wheels, shaving days off the process and improving the final product.

Master Sgt. Jonathon Holle, an aircraft metals technician with the 931st Maintenance Squadron, designed a dual‑axis spinning stand anchored by a 3D‑printed adapter that locks into a wheel’s bearing race. The setup lets painters rotate wheel halves freely in any direction as they spray, keeping fresh coats off work surfaces and minimizing blemishes and touch‑ups. Counterweights hold the assembly steady at any angle, and a quick‑release pin allows crews to slide a newly coated wheel onto a drying rack in the middle of the booth and immediately mount the next part.

Before Holle’s stand, the shop laid wheel halves on tables, coated one side, waited as long as eight hours for each layer to dry, then flipped the piece and repeated the cycle. “Normally you’re just waiting—you’re literally watching paint dry. This invention eliminates that wait time.” Holle said.

By the squadron’s tally, throughput has climbed nearly 400 percent, eliminating as much as 48 hours of downtime for each wheel set. The changes have also cut scuff marks from handling and produced a more consistent finish, while removing the need to place wet parts on flat surfaces.

Holle built the prototype after a casual challenge from the paint shop. “The reason this came about was one of the NCOs casually said one day, ‘Hey, you know it’d be cool if you could take one of these wheels and spin it in space.’ It sounded like it was a challenge, so I took it on and I think it ended up working pretty well,” Holle said.

The adapter is 3D‑printed, while the frame was fabricated in‑house from waterjet‑cut steel plate and tubing. The stand has been in continuous use for four years at McConnell, handling wheels for KC‑46 Pegasus tankers and other aircraft.

Holle joined the Air Force in 1992 and has served 34 years across active duty, the Air National Guard, and the Air Force Reserve. Maintainers at McConnell previously advanced another of his concepts—a folding step for maintenance stands—to the Air Force’s Spark Tank program, leading to adoption across multiple bases. He expects the wheel‑painting innovation to be useful across the tanker community as well.