F-16 Fighting Falcon News

August 18, 2008 (by MSgt. Stephen Delgado) - There is a common denominator that everyone at Luke shares. It is the constant sound of F-16s taking off and landing. Seeing these aircraft flying is the finished product of a long process to make the flight possible.
The 56th Component Maintenance Squadron Propulsion Flight shop is a vital cog in keeping the F-16s in the air. Its mission is to provide timely, safe and reliable jet engines to reduce unnecessary flightline engine removals or engine maintenance in the pursuit of the wing's mission. The 56th CMS manages 180 Air Force engines, according to Tech. Sgt. Mason Mitchell, 56th CMS aerospace propulsion technician and Dock 4 crew chief.

Minor engine problems are fixed on the flightline, but in more serious cases such as foreign object damage and internal components, the engines go to the engine shop.

"We get engines from the flightline, if the problem can't be fixed there," Sergeant Mitchell said. FOD is all too common of a problem. We've had five engines damaged by FOD in the shop during the past two weeks. We also replace any parts that have failed or their life limit has expired."

Moreover, a cornerstone to this process is reliability centered maintenance. The 56th FW was the first base in the Air Force to engage this approach to maintenance. It is aligned to have all the parts expire at the same time. RCM is a systematic approach to defining a routine maintenance program composed of cost-effective tasks that preserve important functions, Sergeant Mitchell said.

Most F-16s at Luke use the Pratt and Whitney F-100-PW-220 engine. The typical process of maintenance is composed of six parts, which are receiving, teardown, inspection, buildup, test cell (hush house) and the final part, which include inspections of the engine and forms, according to Sergeant Mitchell.

"When an engine comes to the 56th CMS, the goal is to have the engine fully operational in 10 maintenance days, but that timeline can vary, depending on the condition of the engine," Sergeant Mitchell said. "Engines are made up of five modules, and there are times that a certain module can't be fixed here, so it has to be sent to the depot at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla. We have a supply of modules on base that are available for us to use, which can save a lot of time."

Not only that, the augmentor anomaly reduction effort has had good results. It has reduced engine removals caused by augmentor malfunctions by 37 percent. The augmentor is the afterburner of the engine. The results of reliability centered maintenance, augmentor anomaly reduction effort and module time matching have increased the average time between engine removals during the past six years. Module matching is matching the life limits of the five major modules of the engine, so that all of them expire at about the same time. It's a one-shop visit versus five," Sergeant Mitchell said.