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New C-5 inspection program saves money, keeps planes in the air

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Chad Padgett
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  A new inspection program being tested at Dover Air Force Base will not only save the Air Force $1.38 billion over the next two decades, it will also keep four extra C-5 Galaxy aircraft available every day for Air Mobility efforts.

The new program -- which will change the way the Air Force conducts C-5 inspections -- is part of an Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century initiative held at Dover in cooperation with Airmen from Stewart Air National Guard Base, N.Y. According to Dover officials, Airmen from Stewart ANGB participated in the rapid improvement event because the guard and Reserve will play a large part in the new inspection process.

"This new type of inspection concept completely replaces the traditional legacy isochronal inspection program," said Master Sgt. Robert Diresta, 105th Maintenance Squadron.

The previous inspection cycle called for C-5 aircraft to go to Warner Robbins Air Logistics Center (Robins Air Force Base, Ga.) for a complete overhaul every five years and had each base doing its own minor inspections. Once at Warner Robbins, the aircraft would be completely taken apart and reassembled, looking for any structural issues or damage to parts.

"The new inspection process moves the dates the aircraft would go to Warner Robbins Air Logistics Center ... from every five years to every eight years," said Sergeant Diresta. "Guard and Reserve bases will conduct all the minor inspections, and Dover will conduct a major inspection for every C-5 aircraft in the Air Force."

The inspection period for the C-5 aircraft will be divided into 16-month increments.

"Every 16 months the C-5 aircraft has to go through inspections," said 1st Lt. Jeffrey Fry, 436th Maintenance Group AFSO 21 officer. "The first two are minor inspections and will be done at guard and Reserve bases; the third is a major inspection and will occur at Dover. Then there will be two more minor inspections and, at the eighth year, the aircraft will go to Warner Robins for a complete overhaul."

With the current number of C-5 aircraft in the fleet, the AFSO21 team determined the base would have only 28 days to completely inspect a single aircraft.

"We validated and verified this new way of doing the major inspections," said Capt. Edward DeFalcon, 105th Maintenance Squadron. "We've lived through this already, so we're here to share our best practices and help Dover learn from our mistakes and make sure everything goes smoothly. We're making history here. We're crossing Major Commands and working with guard, Reserve and active duty to make a fleet-wide change."

If successful, the new program has the potential to change the way inspections are conducted Air Force-wide.

"If this new program is successful, it's very possible that we could change all [Air Force] aircraft over to this type of inspection," said Senior Master Sgt. Robert Pritchard, 105th Maintenance Squadron. "The idea to standardize everything across the fleet just makes sense."

The first major inspection under the new program is scheduled to be conducted at Dover AFB Aug. 9.