Photo By Staff Sgt. Josiah Meece | Nathan Giadrosich, left, an isochronal (ISO) maintenance technician and Master Sgt....... read more read more
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ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. — Keeping the worlds only fleet of E-8C Joint STARS in the sky to “fly, fight, and win, anytime, anywhere,” is the result of dedicated Team JSTARS maintenance professionals employing innovative techniques.
Recently, the Team JSTARS isochronal maintenance section employed a new paperless isochronal inspection system that modernized their process.
“I did the math,” said MSgt. Clifford Singleton, a dock controller with the 116th Maintenance Squadron, Georgia Air National Guard. “It saves us about 400 hours of administrative time.”
An isochronal inspection, or ISO, is a series of thorough inspections conducted every 18 months to ensure the E-8C Joint STARS are airworthy. These inspections have gotten much smoother and faster thanks to the recently adopted innovative process — the Integrated Maintenance Data System.
Previously, the maintainers used physical forms and documents which had to be inspected before working on the aircraft.
“Instead of relying on physical forms, IMDS uses electronic forms that reduce human error by standardizing the writing in the system,” said Nathan Giadrosich, an ISO inspector with the 116th Maintenance Squadron. “Paperless ISO allows more time to be dedicated to working on the aircraft.”
With so many parts of the aircraft to inspect, ISO needed a single reference for what has and has not been inspected. Singleton and Giadrosich created a hand-made status board to do just that.
Prior to implementing the board and IMDS, ISO hung multiple paper warning tags on each inspectable component on the aircraft. With the paper tags now in pouches on the board, the etched plastic tags are hung on the aircraft components.
“Our unit bought weatherproof canvas and marine grade thread, and I brought my sewing machine in and put it all together,” said Singleton. “I did all the sewing, the etching of the tags, the velcro, and the planning.”
Giadrosich handled the frame and the rest of the wood work.
The tags that go on the aircraft are made of a durable, red plastic that are easily visible to prevent an accidental system activation. The plastic tags have physical clips allowing them to hang off the aircraft without falling.
“This helps clear up the aircraft,” said Giadrosich. “Instead of having so many tags hanging off of each piece of the aircraft, there is one tag for each system.”
The board also has a status display with controlled access to be used as a quick reference. This makes the inspections safer and allows the dock controllers to have more control over the process.
“Each system on the plane has a green and red switch,” said Singleton. “If a component is removed, like a spoiler, we would turn hydraulics and flight controls red so no one would inadvertently activate the system. Since the dock controllers are the only ones who switch the systems from red too green, it ensures that the status board is accurate. From a safety perspective, it does nothing but enhance it.”
The innovative practices being implemented by Team JSTARS Isochronal Maintenance, help E-8C Joint STARS aircrews safely and effectively provide battle management, command and control, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support to combatant commanders around the globe.
| Date Taken: | 07.14.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 07.14.2021 13:28 |
| Story ID: | 400881 |
| Location: | ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 100 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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