Okay, when I snap my fingers, you – a successful HVM integrated effort – Abilene, Tex. “We sent a team out to
will not wake up. This is not a dream. was determined through benchmark- Dyess several months ago,” explains
This is the future of airworthiness ing and industry analysis. A key Jerry Mobley, HVM Team Lead,
and it is mechanic-centric. facet is the need to reduce variabil- “and we used borescoping technol-
ity in the maintenance requirements. ogy to inspect engines to look up
Tenets of HVM Variability analysis performed by GA under floorboards and look inside
In May 2007, an Air Force steer- Tech and UT revealed that break- the wings [for corrosion]. We also
ing group was formed and a High ing the six-year Programmed Depot did visuals, walking around in the
Performance Team (HPT) was estab- Maintenance (PDM) package into airplane.” Because of the thorough
lished to develop the HVM concept. four smaller work packages would inspection, according to Mobley,
Various disciplines were joined in the result in greater confidence in staying when the aircraft arrived at Robins,
project, including experts in mainte- on schedule. This approach allows “we did not find anything major
nance requirements, funding, man- for a maintenance concept that inte- enough to cause us the type of head-
power, consumables, tooling, support grates calendar, or isochronal, inspec- aches we’ve normally seen.”
equipment, engineering, facilities, tions conducted in the field into the “The first part of this validation
information and technology. depot-level requirement. was to confirm the tenets of the High
Outside resources were utilized Another key tenet of HVM is Velocity Maintenance program,” says
to assist the team, including the knowing the condition of the equip- the team leader. “Can we do a better
considerable brainpower at Georgia ment. This provides sufficient lead- job in knowing the condition of the
Institute of Technology (GA Tech) time to engineer a maintenance airplane in advance? Can we build
and the University of Tennessee plan, obtain parts, provide training, in tasks and can we actually do daily
(UT). The HPT mapped all of the develop infrastructure and identify standard work?”
processes that support depot main- necessary equipment. “This was purely a validation,”
tenance; it was the first time all The pre-inspection event for the Mobley adds. “We’re saying ‘let’s get
such processes were examined in a Lockheed Martin C-130P Hercules ready for [HVM]. Let’s practice, prac-
single integrated effort. validation aircraft took place at tice, practice and then be ready to go
The future state of maintenance Dyess Air Force Base outside into production down the road.’”
Members of the 402nd Maintenance Wing get ready to tow the C-130 HVM validation aircraft out of the hangar for further maintenance.
Aviation Maintenance |
avmain-mag.com | Oct/Nov 2009 33
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