It was a more or less typical night on the flightline at Plattsburgh Air Force Base, where during the early 80s I was an aircraft maintenance officer working the second (swing) shift. I was nominally in charge of making sure that our assigned lines aircraft that were scheduled to fly that night were ready to accept crews and go off to do their training. And after the airplanes had launched, there was always the cleanup work to do. Things such as checking on the aircraft in the phase, or inspection dock to see how they were coming along (since we were always short of airframes, this was of prime importance); looking in on the aircraft on the major maintenance dock called by the crew chiefs major malfunction, since this was the (sometimes) temporary home of the aircraft we used to cannibalize parts from to keep the others flying; and riding up and down the line, checking forms, getting out of the truck to stretch and walk around a bit, chatting with the guys as they went about their business, and maybe running an errand or two. Errands such as giving someone (or several people) a ride back to the branch, or to one of the docks, or to the inflight kitchen to (finally!) grab some food that is a polite use of the word! or whatever else came up.The radio crackled it was one of my bomber expediters, a maintenance guy assigned to drive a truck on the ramp to take the crew chiefs around to their aircraft. We usually had two trucks, one and two, for each flight of bombers and tankers, depending on the number of vehicles and people available (sometimes, we could run only one truck). The second vehicle was the gofer truck, which helped to take the load off one by freeing it to stay on the ramp while two ran the errands described above. Anyway, the flight was getting ready to do an engine run on the trim pad, and would I mind going down there and watching the airplane for a while? Of course, I wouldn't mind, and besides, it was regular policy for a supervisor to keep an eye on things while an operation with the chance of something going wrong, such as an aircraft tow, engine run, or putting an airplane in a hangar, was taking place. I gave the standard 'roger', copy over the radio and headed down to the trim pad. This promised to be fun. Trim pad meant afterburner, since we couldn't run a bomber in burner on the main parking ramp because of its proximity to the town. Plattsburgh and the base are virtually on top of one another. (Too much noise for the citizens!) But I loved afterburner engine runs anyway, lots of decibels and power!
The Plattsburgh ramp is in the shape of a long rectangle when looked at from above. When the 380th Bomb Wing was there, if you were looking straight down on the ramp, facing true south, the bomber and tanker alert force was parked on the extreme right, the FB-111s in the center, and the KC-135s on the left. There were about half a dozen rows at the extreme left, or true east, end of the ramp, right in front of Base Operations and the control tower, that were left empty to receive visiting aircraft. You followed the perimeter road that ran along the true north edge of the ramp down to Base Ops, made a sharp right turn, drove past the sound suppressor on the left, and followed the road to its end. Then you made a sharp left turn and followed the edge of the taxiway about an eighth of a mile down to an opening on the left. This was the entrance to the trim pad, a circular expanse of concrete surrounded by thick woods, with hooks embedded in the middle of the pad. These were for the tie-down chains to secure an aircraft, usually an FB-111. (We normally ran the tankers in their usual parking spots on the tanker ramp, since they didn't have afterburners, and their weight, plus standard wheel chocks and locked brakes, was enough to prevent forward movement). The bombers needed the extra precaution of being tied down due to the tremendous power of their twin turbofan Pratt and Whitney TF-30 engines, each of which in afterburner put out well over 20,000 pounds of thrust. The trim pad was a lonesome spot, especially at night. There were no lights down there, you had to bring a light cart, or carts, with you, plus flashlights. But because of the trim pad's isolation, we could run a bomber down there in AB as long as we needed to. I always wore my ear protection on the ramp in any event, but especially on the trim pad, and sometimes I even stuck a pair of the insertable ear plugs in my ears to wear under the ear defenders. Even minimal exposure to the something like 150+ decibels of roaring AB will melt your ear wax in seconds!The airplane was already there. Staff Sergeant James D. Murray (it was said that his middle initial, D, was for 'Dirty') was attending to the chores of getting the airplane ready to run. Jim Murray may not have been a poster child for an Air Force crew chief, but he was one of my best. He was a tough street kid from Queens, with the accent and the attitude to go with it, but he knew and loved the 111 like few others did. He was especially fond of his own airplane, 243, but any bomber under his care got essentially the same treatment. And Jim was not about to let this particular airframe run away from him on the trim pad that night. He was one of those guys that you always had to look out for, because he had a hard time staying out of trouble, but he was so good at what he did for a living that you did your best to keep him around. He was the type you'd like to have with you in a shooting war, because he knew his job and what we were there for. Jim greeted me with a half-wave and his trademark toothy grin. As we walked around the airplane we exchanged pleasantries about the usual stuff. It was a beautiful night, temperatures in the 40s, about 11 pm or so, a great time to cut loose and make some big noise with a powerful airplane,enough to wake the dead if there were any around!
When we were satisfied all was in order, Jim fired up the ground power unit, climbed into the cockpit, and settled into the left seat. I headed back to my truck, snugging my ear defenders tighter over my ears. I took my seat in the big '74 Chevy, parked in such a way that I was looking directly at the aircraft and able to see clearly out from both the nose and tail. Jim called the tower and advised them of the engine run, and I rolled the truck windows up tightly. I pulled my ear defenders aside so I could listen for at least a couple of minutes to that mesmerizing sound of those big fans spooling up. I always love to hear the sound of aircraft engines, as long as they aren't too loud, and now I could let myself relax and enjoy the show. Jim Murray was very much in charge, knew what he was doing, and as far as I was concerned, we were all as safe as we could be.The ground power start unit was actually a miniature jet engine that provided air under pressure via a rubberized canvas hose (a little less than a foot in diameter) to the engine that would be started first, usually the left (or number one) engine. The hose was hooked up with a fitting that securely held the hose in place so it wouldn't blow off when Jim allowed the air to go surging through it to the waiting engine. All it took to spin that big, heavy main compressor/turbine around was a mere 35 pounds of pressure. The engine's balance was that delicate and that smooth!
The start cart was whistling along when Jim opened the valve to let the airflow go to the engine. As the air entered the aircraft it blew out of the bottom of the fuselage through an overboard vent. That air was very hot. You didn't want to be anywhere near that vent while this was happening, or you'd get burned quickly and easily. You could tell when the air was being ducted directly to the engine when the loud rushing noise caused by the venting air would stop as the vent closed, the hose would jump a few inches, and the hot compressed air flowed directly onto the first stage compressor to start it turning. A blast of air through the engine, then the compressor would begin to spin slowly, with a deep, bass 'whoooomm', then faster and faster, and the sound would gradually change from bass to tenor as the revolutions built up. When the engine turns reached about 40% power the combustion cans surrounding the engine core would light off the fuel-air mixture inside, signifying ignition, and the hot exhaust gases would burble out the back of the tailpipe. Now the engine was on its own, and as the revs spun faster and faster a distinctive, chilling howl went up as the engine sucked in air to feed combustion and sustain itself. The revs had reached about 70%, which was idle speed, and Jim 'goosed' the throttle quickly forward, then back, causing a slight break in the sound of the engine. (He and a couple of the other guys liked to do that, just to test throttle response). Same procedure for the other engine, except that this time starting would be accomplished by means of a 'football' valve (so called because of its shape) located between the engines. Bleed air from the already running engine would flow to the other through the football valve, spinning the compressor and lighting off the engine in the same manner as the first. The right engine turned over smoothly and lit off the way it was supposed to, and then Jim shut down the compressed air from the start cart since it was no longer needed. Now the aircraft was running with that characteristic steady dull scream of engines at idle power. Only the TF-30 sounds like this, and if you listen to an earlier model F-14, which had essentially the same core engine, you'd hear the same thing. I set my ear defenders back on firmly again, because things were about to get very loud very quickly!Jim smoothly moved both throttles to full military power, or 100%, and the steady scream escalated to a louder, heavier roar as the engines strained to push the airplane forward, held back, of course, by the chains wrapped around the main landing gear assembly and secured to the pad hooks. He let the engines run at military for about ten seconds or so, then he lifted the throttles over the hump, the stop on the throttle quadrant that prevented accidental movement of the throttles to afterburner and now all hell broke loose! There was a momentary hesitation, no more than two seconds, as the spray bars in the tailpipes sprayed the hot gases flooding out the rear of each engine with fuel (and those gases literally caught fire), then a tremendous, booming thunder ripped the air. White-hot, bluish-pink tongues of flame poured out of the tailpipes, growing swiftly in length as each additional zone (or stage) of afterburner kicked in. With all five zones of AB now roaring full bore, those fiery tongues extended a good twenty feet in length!You have to hear and see this for yourself to gain a full appreciation of it, words do not do justice to this singular display of raw power. The heavy thunder of the engines tore through the night and blasted everything behind the tailpipes for at least 100 feet with searing, 1200 degree air. The inside of the truck had become a miniature sound chamber. I felt the concussion of the afterburners pressing perceptibly on my chest. If it weren't for the ear defenders tightly clasping my head, I would've been deaf in a matter of seconds. The truck vibrated, buffeted, and shook as if caught in a hurricane. Inside the aircraft, Jim scanned the cockpit instruments, checking for anything unusual, any red lights that told of impending trouble, found none, and eased the throttles back out of AB. The pounding, shattering, thunderous roar dropped noticeably and smoothly with an audible sigh, kind of a long 'huuuuhhhhhhhhhh' as the engines returned to idle. It sounded as if the airplane was letting out a mechanical sigh of relief! The truck stopped shaking, the pressure on my chest let up, and it seemed almost quiet as the dull scream of idle returned. But not for long! The heavy roar, the booming blast, those Bunsen burner-like tongues of fire, and we were back in AB again. More shaking, more buffeting, more concussion, the airplane's wings and tail assembly vibrated and shook with the power of the engines. Forty thousand-plus pounds of thrust thundered their chorus over the pad ramp, into the woods, and around the dark countryside. Good thing those engines were pointed towards Lake Champlain instead of towards town. As well as we got along with the good citizens of Plattsburgh, the switchboards would've lit up like Christmas trees with the complaints!
Jim cycled the engines back and forth between military and AB a couple more times, let them return one final time to idle, pushed up the revs to about 90% to 'scavenge' the engines of any excess oil or other impurities, then he chopped the throttles to cutoff. The engines whined down, the big turbines quietly growling as they spun slower and slower, then the blades clattered to a stop. Only the whistle of the start cart remained. Jim climbed down from the cockpit, using the step peg as before, then shut down the cart. As the whistle faded away, the silence was practically deafening. Jim grinned again, he knew how much I appreciated the power display! and said that all checked good. We unchained the airplane and set it up for a tow back to the bomber ramp. I climbed again into the truck and called in the results of the run. Jim Murray would remain with the airplane to ride the brakes during the tow. I hung around for a while chatting with him until the expediter truck and tow tractor with an attached tow bar came around the bend in the taxiway and headed towards us. When all was done, I moved out ahead of the airplane and the vehicles and drove back to the branch to get ready for turning over the shift to the third shift crew. It was a little past midnight, and after the excitement of that engine run I was finally getting a bit tired. But we had one more airframe in commission, and we at least had some time for a little fun to go along with that ever-present work!. By Kevin McAndrew.
It was a cool damp March morning on the Plattsburgh flight line. It was going on 04:00 and all was calm, the morning's flyers were about ready. I was driving Red 2 with three other crew chiefs that were taking a break. I had just come back from catching an F-106 that Job Control asked us to catch as we had no one else around to do it. Awesome jet, it was slightly foggy and the F-106 looked like a predator of the night cutting through the fog. When that jet shut down it's engine, it made the most awesome sound when it ran down to a stop.The guys wanted to see it so I said "What the hell!". We got down by it and got out to look around and what did we find? A drag chute. So one of my guys grabbed it for a keep sake and said "That jet don't need it for take-off!". We agreed about that but we didn't think about the landing. So we got back in the truck and went down to the trim pad as we had a jet down there and we were most of the way down that end anyway.We checked out the jet on thr trim pad and found out that it was Tango Uniform (Tit's Up- dead on it's back). That was 680249's norm. So we started our way back to teh flight line. I came up with a great idea. Let's play F-106! So I told my chute rigger to rig that bad boy to the tow hook in the back of Red 2. I asked the guys "How fast do you think we have to go to get a good chute?". We cam up with 40-45 mph so off I went and when we got up to 45 mph I gave the order to deploy the chute. "Boy did it deploy!". It opened with a crack and the trcuk kept going, we did not slow down at all. But the rear bumper sure came to a noisy halt about 150 feet behind us.We all said "Holly S#$%" at about the same time and teh things that went through my head like it was great to be a Sergeant. Nothing like an Article 15 to screw you out of stripes and money. So I came up with another great idea. I asked my chute rigger and safety wire specialist to get the bumper back on the mighty Red 2 for a mission. A mission to save the great F-106 combat team from a hard landing. So the bumper was on the truck and we were on our way.We got back to the line and parked by the AGE equipment between the two flight shacks that were used by Red Section and White Section. OMS Super was over there parked and facing us doing paper work. We had a plan and I hoped it would all work out. After about 10 minutes, we had our chance. White 1 called White 2 to get a mule and wouldn't you know it, we were right by one. I gave White 2 a call and said I was right by one and would help them out as they had a few broke jets and Red Section was sitting good. Teamwork! We backed up and hooked it up. Prior to moving, I called over to OMS Super to have him move back a little. He looked up just in time to see Red 2 get in the six by that mule with the stuck brakes. You can never trust that AGE equipment. That morning, we all learned one thing! We should have played a different game! By Jim Murray,
The FB-111A aircraft was conceived as a version of the F-111A with minimum modification to take advantage of the savings in manufacturing costs and support requirements over the life of the weapon system. Because of the similarity of the configuration of the F-111A and FB-111A, maintainability problems encountered and resolved on the F-111A have immeasurably benefited the FB-111A maintainability program.Like the F-111A, the FB-111A design reflects consideration for the maintenance man. Some of the more distinctive and significant maintainability design features are; Accessibility of aircraft servicing points with minimum manipulation of covers, doors and aerospace ground equipment, and without the aid of maintenance stands. Performance of preflight inspection and turnaround servicing without ground power. Quick release engine doors and engine disconnects, which contribute to a reduction in engine change span time. Engine swing mounts, which permit access to many engine areas without removal of the engine from the aircraft. Rapid accessibility to weapons pylons to aid in loading and/or testing of pylons or stores.Interchangeable covers, which can be replaced in approximately one-fifth to one-tenth the time required to replace a replaceable or a semi-replaceable cover. 95 percent of the FB-111A covers are interchangeable.Accessibility of engine oil filter and dipstick through an access door which can be opened in five minutes. Oil can be checked with the dipstick, which is attached to the cap. Oil can be added directly from the can; or, if desired, a ground oil servicing cart can be used as an alternative, using the gravity-fill method.Accessibility of avionics packages, 85 percent of which are contained in the forward equipment bay. The ballistics computer, the terrain following computer and the amplifier power supply are three examples of avionic line replaceable units (LRUs) which can be replaced in 10 minutes by a single avionic specialist.Incorporation of a false axle design which enables removal of the wheel and tire assembly by removal of only the main wheel nut and its attached antiskid cap. The false axle is designed so that it prevent separation of the wheel halves with a fully inflated tire, thereby decreasing danger to personnel during handling. This safety factor allows wheel and tire assembly installation in the fully inflated condition. Tire deflation prior to removal is required only with severe tire damage, thus reducing the time necessary to perform the normal tire change task.Integral dual ingress/egress provisions eliminate the necessity for portable crew ladders, thereby reducing aerospace ground equipment (AGE) requirements at advance operating bases. Crew safety is enhanced and potential damage to the aircraft adverted during transient stops by eliminating the possible use of improper ladders.These are but a few of the design features of the FB-111A which enhance the supportability of the aircraft and reduce the maintenance man-hours per flight hour (MMH/FH).
(Reproduced with permission from General Dynamics '111Log')
Glossy Eagle was a program directed by Gen.John T.Chain Jr., commander in chief of Strategic Air Command to recondition the command's combat aircraft. Started in February 1987, the program's goal was to extend the service life of the aircraft, and to provide a better working environment for maintenance and aircrew members. In addition, 'Glossy Eagle' provided incentives to keep the aircraft fleet in top shape through competition. The Glossy Eagle program included an annual competition by all SAC wings to determine which unit could claim the best looking aircraft in the command. The award consisted of a trophy given to the wing commander, and a plaque to be given to the crew chief of the best aircraft in each competition category in SAC. The award was presented during the annual BombNav Competition symposium held at Barksdale AFB, La. As of July 1, 1987, Strategic Air Command officials extended the program to include the FB-111A. Unlike the KC-135 refurbishment which involved mostly the interior, the FB's exteriors were getting a majority of the attention.This wing-level program encouraged base-wide participation to give every person in the wing the opportunity to get some "hands-on" time with the bombers and tankers. In order to give everyone a chance to participate, each squadron and division in the wing was given the opportunity to "adopt a jet". People in the adopting agency worked on their aircraft, helping the maintenance Glossy Eagle team to restore it to its original condition. A job of this magnitude required attention to detail to ensure the jets looked their best inside and out. Four weeks was needed for maintenance to restore a KC-135 and two full weeks for an FB-111A. The FB-111A program consisted of a five-day plan that stripped old paint from the entire airframe, detailed the cockpit, nose and main wheel wells, and the weapons bay.Before 'Glossy Eagle' began, Pease AFB and the 509th BW was already working on its planes. Col. 'Gordy' Harmon, DCM at the time, was very keen on 'pretty airplanes'. He got the crew chiefs personally involved with their planes and was the key motivator in the rapid change of the FB-111A camouflage from the old green and brown to the new strategic camouflage called 'Dark Vark'. The flow plan for 'Glossy Eagle' allowed approx. 30 days for the aircraft to be down. It was difficult for the 509th to keep up with the flow plan due to the weather and construction at the DCM hangar at the time. And there was environmental concern for Pease AFB. "You can't sand the paint unless you can wash it off afterwards," explained Maj. C.McWilliams, 509th OMS commander. "And you just can't let it go into the storm drains. It would contaminate Great Bay."The fluctuating weather in New England was another problem for keeping the aircraft up. Painting could not be accomplished during the winter months due to the cold making the paint roll off and not stick to the plane. The summer months could be too hot, making the paint blister and not stay on the plane. Acrylic lacquer, used on the FB-111A, had different wear properties than the polyurethane, which was used on the KC-135. How often to paint, what to paint and what's in the vicinity had a bearing on the schedule of painting. Pease also had the highest corrosion level of any SAC stateside base due to the salt air. This factor, coupled with acrylic lacquer wear properties of the bomber paint reduced the time required between washes. The lack of washing increased the corrosion on the aircraft. Scheduled painting and washing was later arranged with Plattsburgh AFB for the FBs.The 509th BW claimed the 'best-looking FB-111A' in Strategic Air Command during SAC's Bombing and Navigation Competition Symposium, held at Barksdale AFB, La., between Nov.23 and 25, 1987. According to Capt. Jack Stewart, SAC's Glossy Eagle project officer, "Competition for the top spot was tough, factors used in the selection process included more than just overall condition and appearance, cleanliness, configuration and standardization of aircraft. The quality of the wing's program action and involvement also played a part in the evaluation process. Winners generally just had cleaner aircraft and stuck to the authorized configuration". Attending the symposium were Sgt. Peter Kabelka, SSgt. Tony Berwager (FB-111A Crew Chief), A1C Maryjo Spaulding (Assistant Crew Chief) and SrA. David Swan, 509th FMS corrosion control monitor.
For several weeks during 1987, technicians from the 380th Organizational Field and Avionics Maintenance Squadrons have been working on this project aimed at the refurbishment of all FB-111A and KC-135 aircraft assigned to the 380th BMW. Crew chiefs and assistamt crew chiefs of the 380th OMS were trained to be detail-oriented. Their primary technical job was to find, then repair or service, maintenance discrepancies on their aircraft. In this program, They were instructed to be critical of even the most minor problems which they discovered on each airframe.The 380th BMW's Glossy Eagle crew for 1987 included A1C Frederick Gida, A1C Robert Bizga and A1C Samuel Dunn. Each FB-111A "refurb" was supervised by the assigned crew chief.
The second Glossy Eagle competition was held in 1988 and the winners were on display at Barksdale AFB during the 1988 Bombing and Navigation Competition Symposium. The 380th Bomb Wing was this year's winner in the FB-111 category.
In September 1975, a new item was introduced on the flightline at Plattsburgh AFB. A joint maintenance-operations product known as "Big Apple". Big Apple was a new concept for FB-111A launch and recovery, repairing problems while the aircraft engines were still running. The Big Apple maintenance truck, stocked with common fail items and a crew of seven Avionics Maintenance Squadron (AMS) specialists, was the last thing an FB-111A saw before take-off and the first thing after landing. It allowed maintenance to correct problems in the aircraft as they were happening.According to Maj.Carl H.Tresher, 380th AMS commander, Big Apple provided rapid response for launches and recovery. It allowed fault isolation, something they did not enjoy in the laboratory or on the flightline once the engines were shut down. "We could look at a problem while malfunctions were still indicated, giving our specialists a better chance to analyze and correct the difficulty right after they landed."Big Apple was a trial program and limited to AMS for the time being. However, the enthusiasm and results generated in its first two weeks had left people talking already about expanding the concept to Field Maintenance (FMS) and even Munitions Maintenance (MMS). The two major functions of Big Apple were to decrease deviations in the flying schedule and provide a more rapid turn around of aircraft by reducing the amount of maintenance time required per flying hour. 2nd Lt. Dave Yates, the initial project officer for Big Apple, was sent to other bases with similar programs to observe how the rapid response concept operated. Lieutenant Yates discovered at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, for example, that the concept decreased flight cancellations by as much as 64 percent. Although the Plattsburgh results were inconclusive, Big Apple had performed up to or beyond its expectations during its first week on the job.
"There were no late take-offs during the first week of Big Apple related to avionics equipment," reported Capt. John Long of AMS."That was a sizeable improvement from our performance during the first 12 flying days of September. In the recovery phase, almost two-thirds of all AMS malfunctions were taken care of prior to parking the aircraft."Big Apple provided for a more coordinated maintenance effort for the FB-111A, while increasing the lines of communication between flight crews and maintenance personnel. "We could reach a crew as early as one hour before landing," said Major Tresher. "We discussed major problems over the radios, knew what equipment would be needed and had it in place when the aircraft landed."Big Apple was stocked with 64 common fail parts, line items such as converter sets, inertial reference units (IRUs), general navigational computers (GNCs) and weapon delivery computers (WDCs). The advantage that the FB-111A hold to other aircraft such as the KC-135, for example, was the high number of line replaceable units (LRUs), complete systems that could be easily taken out and replaced.Major Tresher, joined by most in the maintenance complex were very enthusiastic about the future of Big Apple and its eventual contributions to the overall maintenance effort.The Big Apple concept at Plattsburgh AFB was later renamed "Super B". During generational phases for SAC ORI's and other readiness inspections, as many as three "B's" (Super B, Super B 2 and Little B) were active at one time ferrying troops and parts in support.
More infos from the Big Apple maintenance program from MSgt Clifford Van Horn Jr. (Ret): "As the story said we had a Chevy stepvan outfitted with dexion racks for our spare parts. We started getting a jug of coffee from the inflight kitchen and offering it to the pilots/navs after they got back into the parking spot if they had gripes for us to check out. (Kept them a little less impatient if they were holding a hot paper cup of coffee while we worked the problems. One of the guys, I don't remember who, had brought an 8 track and speakers they used when I wasn't around, and didn't get it off in time once, so we mounted it on one of the dexion racks and ran a switch to the drivers overhead console where the radio controls were so we could shut it off when using the radios (FM maintenance for truck to truck and maintenance control, and a UHF to talk with the aircrews.) When we first started it was using an extra old tube type UHF from the KC-135 side of the house. Had it mounted on the floor behind the drivers seat and ended up having to run a couple of 3" cooling hoses down to the footwell and through some holes for cooling air. (later we somehow managed to come up with one of the new "all in one" units from the FB). As the inside got pretty hot for the troops we asked for permission to put a crank up roof vent in like the RV's of the day had. The motor pool of course said no way, (they were not happy with the seats and racks as it was). I happened to mention the vent to the DCM and he said go ahead, so on a Saturday a couple of us installed the vent (a little off center so as not to cut the main beam) and also small florescent light in the aft part where the racks were. (Those Chevy vans did not have much of a dome light). The attached patch is one some of us designed for the maintenace guys assigned to Big Apple and I had a bunch made and we wore them on our fatique uniforms without any real official approval.When we were starting out we just tried things, like finding a UHF frequency to talk to the crews on, just picked one that didn't seem to be in use. Turns out the Canadians or someone was using it, or owned it or something, so the powers that be gave us an "official" frequency so we wouldn't bother anyone. The program worked well to keep the Code 1 sorties up, if we fixed all the gripes before engine shutdown it was considered a Code 1 flight even though the gripes were written up in the 781A while we worked them and then we signed them off so the A/C history would reflect the descrepancies. Getting the spare parts to carry was sometimes fun, if they were in supply we could just sign them out for a period, if not you couldn't officially "canalbalize" until all the paperwork was done so we had to "remove for troubleshooting" parts from the plane we expected to canalbalize from and if it fixed the problem we left it in the now fixed plane, (over a lot of screaming from Job Control) and then ordered the part and when it went backorder had to ask to canalbalize. Although Job Control supposedly didn't know it quite a few of the parts we carried on the truck had been "removed for troubleshooting" in advance from some hangar queen. Now this was all back in the beginning as I left Plattsburgh in early 1981."
They serve as the direct link between the operations world and the maintenance world with one mission in mind, to maintain aircraft capable of operating safely in whatever environment they are used. Who are these individuals? The crew chiefs. In the Organizational Maintenance Squadron work is accomplished under the crew chief concept. The concept involves the responsibility of personnel assigned to the squadron for all actions on the flightline involving aircraft prior to and after flight. Also involved in this concept is handling and servicing, (fuel, oxygen, oil, hydraulic fluid and water), all inspections prior to flight, after flight as well as major periodic inspections. OMS ensures that the aircraft is available and ready for specialists to work problems beyond maintenance capability.The crew chief concept assigns specified individuals to each aircraft. These individuals maintain an accurate running status of their aircraft. The crew chief inspects the aircraft prior to flight (preflight), immediately after (post flight), and between flights (thru flights). There is an Hourly Post Flight inspection based on the number of hours flown. There are specific technical requirements for each of the named inspections. When an aircrew arrives, the crew chief will brief the maintenance condition of the aircraft and participate in the aircrew walk around inspection.In addition to the day-to-day maintenance, the aircraft undergoes periodic phase inspections which normally takes one week to complete. The crew chief does all the servicing of the aircraft, refuel, oxygen, hydraulic systems, etc...if there is a discrepancy or maintenance problem on the aircraft, they coordinate with a central point of contact for specialist assistance.In addition to their numerous duty tasking, the crew chiefs assume alert in much the same ways as aircrew members. They maintain ground control and response for alert aircraft. These crew chiefs are responsible for all maintenance done on these vital resources. They are available to respond within minutes upon presidential direction.