| 53Driver |
10-29-2014 10:38 AM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by woode
(Post 2002552)
We don't really have issues with aircraft being accepted and then something popping up. If it does, somebody's gettin their **** slapped. But, we mostly just haul cargo (ya, refueler c-130 set up for cargo..) so not a whole lot of mission equipment to really break. The dual rails are what they are, and the winch doesn't really break much. If there are issues bigger than that, well, ...
I didn't understand supply either, so I went and learned their job for a while.. to be honest most of the time it's not really "them" and it's more the systems (ERP.. ugh) and processes in place. Still annoying as fuck though. The benefit of learning the system as a maintainer is huge though.. you can tell when they are being lazy and blowing you off. I've had instances where we NEEDED parts, and they told us the closest assets were across the country. I looked into it, found it much closer, and they were just being lazy and didn't want to make some phone calls to release the parts from a different branch (marines usually - they hog all the parts!).
Although, like everything there are those like you said that just have no sense of urgency.. but I work with a supply guy now who actually comes out and works on the birds with us even, just to get an understanding of where the parts are going and why etc.
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As a former Marine aviator, I can answer your question about accepting aircraft. There's only a few instances where we actually accept an aircraft. The first is when they are coming out of depot level overhaul. Depot has it's own maintenance pilots on staff. Once the aircraft completes overhaul, the maintenance pilots and crew put the aircraft through what we call an "A card" which is a complete post-maintenance check flight. This can often turn in to a 1 to 2 week affair as "bugs" are worked out of the aircraft. Once the aircraft has completed this post-maintenance check flight, the crew from the squadron that is accepting the aircraft arrive to pick it up.
A complete review of the aircraft's book is done and a thorough pre-flight is conducted. If any issues are found during this process, the accepting flight crew will not accept the aircraft until the Depot resolves the issues. Once resolved, the receiving crew accepts the aircraft. Then, as an SOP, the accepting flight crew will put the aircraft through another "A card" to ensure that everything is indeed operating within acceptable limits. If an issue is found at this point, as a general rule the squadron receiving the aircraft now has to resolve the issue unless it is something above their capability, then it goes back to Depot.
Usually, this stuff goes rather smoothly as the Depot maintenance crews are also Marine aircrew so they will have any issues identified and rectified before the aircraft gets handed over to the squadron. However, there are exceptions to the rule.
Tho other instances where an aircraft gets accepted is when one squadron gets tasked with signing over an aircraft to another squadron, then a similar process as above takes place. The other instance is a brand new aircraft coming from the factory; this is unique as the accepting squadron will send aircrew to the factory where they will inspect and sign for the aircraft. Once signed for, the aircraft becomes property of the accepting service/squadron.
I can not speak to the Air Force's way of doing business, but what is described as above is how the Navy/Marines do business as a general rule. My understanding is that Air Force squadrons don't actually own the aircraft, that the Wing owns them and they are provided to the squadrons to support their daily flight schedules. I also understand that each Wing has a maintenance squadron that handles all aircraft maintenance, so if there is a problem the maintenance squadron handles the issue and the flying sqaudrons "borrow" the operational aircraft for missions. |
