Photo By Senior Airman Cody Sanders | A large personnel stand mounted around a F-16 Viper exhaust assembly at Shaw Air Force...... read more read more
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SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. – Airmen from the 20th Component Maintenance Squadron aerospace propulsion flight have engineered a large personnel stand to optimize their engine maintenance operations.
Tech. Sgt. Alexander Huff, 20th CMS aerospace propulsion craftsman, spent seven months at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, where the idea for the stand had originated, and he brought it back to Shaw to implement before sending the plans over to Misawa Air Base, Japan.
“I thought the stand was a great idea so when I got back to Shaw, I reached out and got their plans so the process was streamlined,” said Huff. “Quality assurance had to approve it then we ordered the parts and took the schematics to metals tech where they began putting it together.”
Having the large personnel stand eliminates the need for multiple single person stands, maximizing efficiency by allowing Airmen to have access to work simultaneously, ultimately saving the 20th CMS roughly 200 man hours per year.
“This new stand gives our Airmen 360 degree accessibility to perform maintenance on the assembly instead of having to continuously move the old stands to work different areas and angles of the engine,” said Senior Master Sgt. Michael Calabrese, 20th CMS aerospace propulsion flight chief. “We plan on continuing to refine the design more before sending the blueprints to the repair network for other facilities to utilize.”
The 20th Equipment Maintenance Squadron aircraft metals technology flight was tasked with spearheading the construction and upgrades of the personnel stand for 20th CMS. Upon request, a collapsible tool shelf was specially added to enhance efficiency.
“The tool shelf allows Airmen to access tools and technical orders from their workspace rather than having to demount the single person stands each time they need something,” said Huff. “The innovative design allows the shelf to collapse and the stand to be taken apart for storage when not in use.”
Finding ways to optimize processes to decrease maintenance time while improving safety has been an enduring objective for the aerospace propulsion flight.
Creating a more efficient engine maintenance process means that 20th Fighter Wing F-16 Vipers get fully mission capable engines faster and continue to bring combat airpower anywhere in the world.
| Date Taken: | 01.25.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 01.28.2022 08:46 |
| Story ID: | 413593 |
| Location: | SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, SOUTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 87 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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