Aircraft Maintenance Technology

JAN-FEB 2018

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ROTORCRAFT 34 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY able to reduce the non-value added time at this gate "from 160 days to 120 days." Giving a sister service its due, Lanceta says he borrowed the program from the United States Air Force, and then tweaked it to fit the Army's way of doing things. Lanceta's effort dovetails nicely with the Army's Storage, Analysis, Failure and Reclamation program, or SAFR. According to a press release written by Kelly A. DeWitt, a public affairs repre- sentative with the Army's Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engine Center (AMRDEC), a pull-a-part shop at CCAD is saving money and boost- ing aircraft readiness. DeWitt says, the program works by gathering specifically identified candi- date parts from airframes being over- hauled at CCAD. She quotes Michael E. Vourcos, a SAFR program engineer, "We select parts based on critical supply need, complexity to manufacture, raw materials availability, [and] long procurement lead times" typically those parts that no lon- ger meet current repair criteria limits or are beyond economical repair. Engineers look at those parts and put together repair development solutions. Most common can- didates to be returned to duty as usable are gearbox housings, transmission gears, engine blades, and rotor heads. Vourcos says, "Our repair development solutions typically reclaim 50 to 75 percent of the parts. This results in an average of more than 2,000 parts repaired and returned to service annually." CCAD's mostly civilian workforce is looking to get the helicopters back to warfighters more quickly by speeding up access to needed parts and compo- nents. But there's a teaching component to CCAD too. Sergeant Matthew Magreta, a CCAD public affairs contributor, penned an article that noted how Utah National Guardsmen of Company D, 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion honed their pre-deployment skills "alongside sea- soned depot-level aircraft mechanics and engineers." Magreta quotes Sergeant 1st Class Jesse Martinez as saying, "Our new soldiers need to get their hands dirty and expand their knowledge of aircraft maintenance before our deployment. We don't get these kinds of opportunities back home." At CCAD soldiers concentrate on engine assembly, composites, rotor blades, and structural and skid repair on the UH-60 Black Hawk, AH-64 Apache, and CH-47 REGISTER FOR ASIA'S PREMIER BUSINESS AVIATION EVENT www.abace.aero

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