New MXS program improves fly to fly time Published March 6, 2008 By Senior Airman Carl Berry 434th ARW Public Affairs GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind., -- Top corporations have been known for their ability to restock shelves on a daily basis so that sales are never missed due to a shortage of products. The 434th Maintenance Squadron has a similar ability. Every KC-135R Stratotanker must be inspected every 15 months, resulting in one less flyable aircraft during that time. However, with a new paperless inspection program the amount of time for aircraft inspections will become less. "The new paperless ISO program could save up to 30-man hours per aircraft," said Senior Master Sgt. Kevin Cassidy, 434th MXS maintenance section superintendent. "In the past for every maintenance action, we had to manually fill out aircraft forms and also complete them on the computer," he said. "By switching to the new program we are able to complete the aircraft forms only on the computer during the inspection, which allows us to work more." The 434th MXS trained 25 Airmen, with a future goal to train others on the process. The training is a computer based program that is similar to other ancillary training. "The program is already 200 percent better than what we used to have, and we are able to cut back time on the computer and can be on the aircraft working a lot more," said Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Snider, 434th MXS hydraulics specialist. "The Air Force Reserve Command tracks the last time an aircraft was flown before the inspection to when aircraft flies after the inspection, or fly to fly time," said Sergeant Cassidy. "The fly to fly time is a good measure because it includes all the squadrons in the Maintenance Group, AMXS, MXS and the MOF. Using the new paperless ISO program we returned a serviceable and flyable aircraft in 25 days, which is among the leaders in AFRC." "It is not about stats, for us it's about having a flyable aircraft available in the shortest amount time possible so that the Grissom mission can be accomplished," he said. Four active-duty bases are using this particular program, but Grissom is the first in AFRC to use it. The current KC-135R undergoing the inspection is the second aircraft to use the new system. The aircraft was built in 1963 and continues to fly due to these thorough inspections.
