Air Force Staff Sgt. Solomon Walker prepares a C-130H Hercules aircraft for takeoff at Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., Jan. 29, 2021. U.S. Air Force / Staff Sgt. Juliet Louden
Defense One: More Than 100 C-130s Are Down, Likely Because Mechanics Scratched Their Propellers, Air Force Says
The standard practice of inscribing serial numbers during inspections turns out to be counterproductive.
A maintenance procedure used by Air Force mechanics to document inspections likely damaged hundreds of C-130 propeller blades over a decade, according to service officials.
Maintenance technicians examining the propeller blades for cracks or other damage scratched permanent marks on each blade to document the inspection had taken place.
“The process used to engrave serial numbers on the propellers likely contributed to cracks that are being found on the C-130Hs,” Maj. Beau Downey, an Air Force spokesperson, said in an email. “That process, which involved an electric arc pen to incise digits into the surface of the metal, was stopped about six months ago and will not be used going forward.
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WNU Editor: That is a lot of planes being told that they are grounded due to a maintenance procedure.
4 comments:
Pure f'ing genius.
Brilliant! Can't make this s**t up.
Props wear out. They would be replaced anyway. It does add to cost. I would like to see the decisions making behind this. I cannot see a mechanical engineer signing off on this based on their STEM training. Stress at the tip of a crack is infinite. A cut or an incision looks like or could be the start of crack. It is very similar.
"The process used to engrave serial numbers on the propellers ... an electric arc pen to incise digits into the surface of the metal"
Reminds me of a make's mark on swords. Supposedly it has been around since antiquity. If a sword broke in battle, a king knew which sword maker to blame. This probably the line of thinking and it was updated to the modern era.
A pen sound innocuous. The arc part sounds downright scary and stupid.
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