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Another place like home: Airmen perform maintenance check on C-130

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Vincent Borden
  • 386th Air Expeditionary Wing public affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  On the flightline, the maintenance coordination and actions of a C-130 Hercules home station check can be likened to a three-day orchestra performance. Like the woodwind, brass and string instruments that each contribute to a musical ensemble, engine mechanics and hydraulics, electricians and communications navigations specialists each perform their individual parts of the inspection to ensure the aircraft is in the best condition possible.

The in-depth inspection, usually performed on the aircraft while at their home stations, is being completed on numerous aircraft here in order to ensure their continued operability in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. The inspection occurs on the aircraft every eight months.

Staff Sgt. Carlito Deguzman, 386th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron crew chief, is one of a team of five crew chiefs who could be called the inspection's conductors. Their work on the aircraft is not system specific; they take care of general maintenance involved with the aircraft, looking at items like engine oil levels, tire condition and landing gear to identify any problems that need to be further investigated by the individual system specialists. With an aircraft that's over 30 years old, that could be quite a few.

"The HSC is a more in-depth inspection where we're trying to catch things before they become problems," said Sergeant Deguzman. "For instance, we inspect the aircraft for cracks as part of the HSC, and if we find one we'll call a sheet metal specialist out to come repair it."

The result is a scene of purposeful and organized chaos; simultaneously, communications and navigations specialists look into an open C-130 nose to inspect the hardware of the weather radar, engine specialists are on maintenance platforms changing out filters and crew chiefs are checking for corrosion in the aircraft's battery box.

Inside the plane things are just as busy, with COMM NAV specialists on the flight deck checking various instruments like radar scopes and the integrated display control unit, electrical environmental specialists inspecting the oxygen converter and performing fire extinguisher bottle operation checks, and crew chiefs checking the passenger seats in the C-130 for rips and tears.

It all amounts to an incredible sight of numerous specialists moving in and out of the aircraft for twelve hours at a time, each working on different parts and pieces of their individual systems in order to optimize the performance of the aircraft as a whole.

The HSC also calls for the intervalic check of other systems on the aircraft, such as the flight deck instrument panel gauges, to ensure they're accurately measuring the aircraft's fuel levels, engine temperature and torque, as well as a host of other measurements. That's where guidance and control system specialist Staff Sgt. Joseph Clephane comes in.

"Our checks can take up to a day and a half to complete, depending on whether or not everything is working [correctly]," said Sergeant Clephane. "We check everything from engine instruments to air speed indicators and altimeters. We have a tester, for example, which applies some variables to measure fuel levels as if you were in a bank or turn, in order to make sure the gauge is reading [accurately]."

The completion of the home station check ensures these aircraft, operating in extreme wind and heat conditions, are able to perform their missions every time they're scheduled to fly. And the numbers prove it.

With the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing's mission effectiveness rate holding steady at a solid 97 percent, the combined maintenance efforts of the 386th EAMXS keep the aircraft performing as well as they would at home. That's music to the ears of the wing's commander.

"The 386th EAMXS performs miracles here day in and day out," said Col. Cameron Torrens, 386th AEW commander. "These planes are old ... it's only through the dedication and commitment of our wing's maintainers that we are able to maintain such an incredible mission effectiveness rate. These Airmen are directly impacting Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom."