WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- For every flight hour a C-17 Globemaster III is operational, it takes roughly 20 hours of maintenance to keep the aircraft in peak operational condition. Reserve Citizen Airmen from the 445th Maintenance and Aircraft Maintenance Squadrons perform periodical inspections of the wing’s nine C-17s called home station checks, ensuring every nook and crany of the plane is checked for defects.
Home station checks are normally performed at their home station, thus home station check, and are commonplace throughout the Air Force for most aircraft. This is more in-depth inspection where the goal is to try and catch any issues before they become problems. For instance, the aircraft can be inspected for cracks as part of the HSC, and if one is found a sheet metal specialist can come out to repair it.
“Every 180 days, each aircraft is required to be pulled into the hangar. We will then work with multiple shops to inspect and diagnose different areas of the aircraft. But our schedule allows us to mainly focus on critical parts of the C-17 and the maintenance items that need addressed in a more timely manner,” said Master Sgt. Stacy Tompkins, 445th MXS HSC technician.
While the mandatory HSC conducted every 180 days is a requirement, HSC crews can also inspect planes and schedule repairs at shorter intervals. Each aircraft is scheduled for a different 180-day timeframe. These staggered inspections ensure that there are always planes ready to fly.
“The HSC is important because it’s scheduled,” said Tompkins. “We can have designated maintenance downtime without negatively impacting the FMC (fully mission capable) timeline, though we are also able to do one time inspections or fulfill other maintenance tasks whenever necessary. We want to keep our planes as green as possible and this is a team effort between squadrons and shops that allows us to meet our objectives,” Tompkins said.
The work of the crew chiefs, known as the inspection’s conductors, on the aircraft is not system specific; they take care of general maintenance involved with the aircraft, looking at items like engine oil levels, tire condition and landing gear to identify any problems that need to be further investigated by the individual system specialists.
“Flexibility is key when it comes to maintenance,” said Staff Sgt. Ryan Edens, a crew chief with the 445th MXS. “While we can perform maintenance at any time, HSCs allow for comprehensive and thorough checks. We can have aircraft ready to go when we understand how our timelines impact the mission.”
Inspection schedules that rely on standard maintenance timelines but offer flexibility when additional maintenance is needed are essential for maintaining a high operational tempo. From troubleshooting errors to making hands-on repairs, maintenance professionals spend each HSC ensuring that 445th aircraft are always ready for flight and the wing is prepared to carry out its mission.
“The HSC definitely impacts wing readiness,” said Edens. “The Air Force is about air superiority and control and that takes aircraft. Without the steady and concerted effort of flight line maintenance crews, HSC personnel and every single maintainer, these planes won’t be able to fly safely and effectively,” said Edens. “A lot of what we do day to day isn’t necessarily glamorous, but what maintenance does is critical to the success of the Air Force.”