Photo By Sgt. Lauren Henson | Lance Cpl Robert Hutter, an avionic technician with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron...... read more read more
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MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. – Aircraft would not complete a mission without radar, navigation, communication and missile systems. To make sure all these systems are ready for flight is an avionic technician’s mission.
Technician Marines with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 163 are crucial to an MV-22B Ospreys flight and maintenance.
The aircraft runs on a fly-by-wire system, meaning everything is ran electronically through wires, requiring more aviation electrical attention, explained Cpl. Anthony Nguyen, an avionic technician with VMM-163 and a San Jose, Calif., native.
“We have a higher workload with an MV-22B because avionics deals with all electrical parts of an aircraft,” said Nguyen. “We continuously troubleshoot to find any problems that the aircraft may have. On this aircraft, it could be many different possibilities that could make any of the power components fail.”
Given that technicians deal with trouble shooting, they have to work long days around a flight schedule to make sure all the components are functional for an MV-22B to take off.
“Fix and fly aircraft is our objective,” said Staff Sgt. James Wood, the staff non-commission officer-in-charge with VMM-163.
Another part of being an avionic technician is performing various inspections on an aircraft. These include 182-day and 360-day inspections where they change the batteries of the radios and GPS, added Lance Cpl. Robert Hutter, an avionic technician with VMM-163 and Carlsbad, Calif., native.
In addition, Marines perform high time inspections, replacing certain components of the aircraft after a set amount of flight hours have been met, explained Hutter.
The Marines who work with VMM-163 avionics not only have to stay up to date with annual training, but also need on the job training in order to work on an aircraft.
“Although it is time consuming, it is rewarding,” said Wood.
Avionic technicians are the reason an Osprey can accomplish its mission every time. Even though it takes a lot of work to keep an MV-22B running its best, it pays off in the end.
| Date Taken: | 05.08.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 05.18.2012 15:58 |
| Story ID: | 88658 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Hometown: | SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 73 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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