B-1Bs to get short, frequent checkupsBy Bruce Rolfsen - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Jun 7, 2009 9:34:26 EDT
When the B-1B Lancer is in the air, it soars. When it’s in the shop, it sits — and sits — and sits.
To cut that downtime, the Air Force is setting up a repair schedule that should keep nearly two-thirds of the fleet — instead of less than half — available for missions on any given day.
Right now, 28 of the 66 jets, on average, are ready to fly; by 2013, under the “high-velocity” maintenance program, at least 40 Lancers will be good to go. The schedule is already in the works and should be in place by October 2010, according to Maj. Rich Buckley, an engineer and team leader for the high-velocity maintenance project.
The 1980s vintage bomber is a mechanically complicated aircraft, making it both more prone to breakdowns and more time-consuming to repair. For example, it has wings that can swing in and out, and hundreds of feet of tubing that carry hydraulic fluid at 4,000 pounds of pressure per square inch.
The B-1B’s depot maintenance and repair work is performed by the 427th Aircraft Sustainment Group at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center.
“We’re trying something new here to give us the availability,” said Col. Michael Pelletier, the group’s commander.
The new schedule will consist of more frequent but shorter depot visits, the officers said.
Today’s repair schedule calls for each Lancer to go to Oklahoma City once every five years for 150 working days. Seven or eight bombers are overhauled at a time.
Under the new schedule, each bomber will get checked four times over five years, but each stay will be only 22 working days. Maintainers will work on three or four Lancers at a time.
During the five years, each bomber also will go through two more basic 14-day maintenance sessions at their operational homes, Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, and Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D.
Tied to the new schedule is an effort to determine in advance what repairs the plane will need, Buckley said. Maintainers at the operational bases will check planes and map out the repairs and upgrades to be made at the depot.
The heads-up allows the depot to have parts on hand and workers — primarily civilians — scheduled to fix the jet. The depot plans on adding a third shift of workers.
Under the new system, mechanics will no longer have to order and retrieve parts, letting them at least double the 140 man-hours they spend every day fixing and maintaining each jet.
Source
http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/06/airforce_b1b_depot_repairs_060609w/
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