Maintenance tech ratchets up huge savings

  • Published
  • By Maj. Dale Greer
  • 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  The Air Force is changing the way it repairs C-130 propeller blades at a regional maintenance depot after a DOD civilian working with the 386th Expeditionary Maintenance Group identified process improvements that will enhance mission readiness and could save more than $850,000 annually in maintenance costs and shipping expenses.

Stu Burdick and his 386th co-workers began looking into the depot's repair processes after an unusually high number of depot-serviced propellers began arriving at an undisclosed air base here in damaged condition. The propellers were somehow developing grooves in their Teflon seals, which meant they wouldn't seat properly when installed on aircraft.

Some of the damaged props had to be sent back to the depot for re-work, which was costly in terms of both dollars and time, he said.

To find the root cause of the issue, Mr. Burdick traveled to the Air Force's Centralized Intermediate Repair Facility, located at another undisclosed air base in the Persian Gulf region, in early July. There, he was able to identify and suggest process improvements that will likely prevent the issue from recurring.

"We found that the blade seals were resting on a blade support in the shipping crate," Mr. Burdick said. "The Air Force is now trying to source a new shipping crate that supports the blades in a different location. In the meantime, we submitted a change to the tech data to allow the repair of the seals by rolling out the damage [here at the base]."

Lt. Col. Chad Scholes, commander of the 386th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, praised Mr. Burdick's tenacity in chasing down the cause of the defects. He said the changes could save the Air Force more than $850,000 each year, but more importantly, they will reduce maintenance downtime and increase aircraft availability within the theater.

"Stu is an outstanding technician whose dedication here is representative of our whole group's commitment to excellence," Colonel Scholes said. "It's this kind of proactive attitude that allows us to maintain high efficiency, head off maintenance issues before they become problems and keep our mission effectiveness rate above 99 percent on a regular basis. That kind of readiness number speaks for itself, I think."

Mr. Burdick said he's just proud to contribute to the fight. His squadron's parent unit, the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing, operates the primary air hub for Operation New Dawn and provides airlift support for Operation Enduring Freedom and the Horn of Africa.

"I was given the opportunity to come over here to assist with the propulsion problems that increase in this extreme environment, and I'm happy to be able to contribute in any way that I can," he said.