A Service and a Wash, Please!
Szöveg: honvedelem.hu / heavyairliftwing.org | 2013. május 31. 9:07The Strategic Airlift Capability Heavy Airlift Wing has taken another step forward towards becoming an increasingly independent C-17 Globemaster operator in terms of aircraft maintenance. During winter and spring 2013, Home Station Checks for SAC Boeing C-17 Globemaster III aircraft have been performed for the first time at the wing home field, Pápa Air Base.
First the huge plane is being slowly approached by one of the Hungarian Defense Forces fire trucks that usually guard the takeoffs and landings in the Pápa AB. Now the truck uses its enormous jet spray of water to wet the C-17 from nose to tail.
When it has left the stage aircraft maintenance personnel from the Boeing Company in Pápa clad in protective overalls somewhat reminiscent of sci-fi film props step in with brushes and pressure washers. After several hours of scrubbing and spraying SAC 02 shines like new in the glowing hot afternoon sun.
The washing operation concludes a week of maintenance work done to SAC 02 that has just had its Home Station Check (HSC) done for the second time
in Pápa Air Base. The HSC is a maintenance inspection carried out to the C-17s regularly every 180 days.
According to the Heavy Airlift Wing Maintenance Officer, Captain Jhames Illanez, the HSC is an in-depth inspection that checks for aircraft airworthiness. In another words, the inspection focuses on checking for corrosion, system operations and general overall aircraft condition to ensure the complicated machine such as a heavy cargo jet does its job safely.
“During a Home Station Check all the systems of the C-17 that are both used and not used on a daily basis are inspected and their action is verified. The goal is to ensure that the aircraft is mission ready and can be operated safely."
The HSC is routine work to aircraft maintainers, and obviously it has already been done several times to the SAC C-17s since year 2009 when the multinational
Heavy Airlift Wing began its operations. The thing that makes the April HSC of SAC 02 different from most of the previous ones is the fact that it was carried out for the second time in the Pápa Air Base.
Earlier SAC C-17s and the Boeing maintenance staff taking care of them had to travel for the work to the United States. Now that the HSC capability has established in Hungary, this needs only to be done for the winter time HSCs since Pápa doesn’t yet a have a big enough building to house the C-17 for cold weather work.
The HSCs will be are expected to be transferred completely to Pápa when the ongoing work to construct a hangar building for the Heavy Airlift Wing is concluded.
Saving time and money
According to Captain Illanez, SAC 02’s April Home Station Check in Pápa was a success that met its initial goals. Good planning and cooperation ensured that the work was done efficiently, fast and with cost savings when compared to the initial practice.
“All the SAC organizations worked well together. Heavy Airlift Wing, NATO Airlift Management Program and Boeing did a fantastic work planning the check and Boeing did a good job with the actual work. We also got brilliant support from the local contractors such as the companies we rented lifters and other equipment from."
During the summer months of 2013, SAC’s other two C-17s will receive their Home Station Checks in Pápa.
“Ultimately, we saved a remarkable amount of time and money with the HSC. We had planned for two weeks of time but it was actually carried out in only four days. We also saved a lot of travel time for the maintenance crews and aircraft which translates into giving the 12 SAC nations back aircraft availability and the HAW more capability."
