Full MSG-3 implementation signals end to legacy PDM Published May 13, 2011 By Wayne Crenshaw 78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Had you taken a walk around the Robins flightline in October 2009, you could have counted a record 17 C-5s parked here. For those who don't know, that's a bad thing. It meant nearly one of every seven C-5s in the Air Force inventory was here for work and unavailable to the airlift community. Today, there are 10 C-5s on the flightline, the lowest in three years. "That's a good thing," said Dave Nakayama, director of the 559th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, which does C-5 programmed depot maintenance. "It means seven more airplanes, on average, are back in the hands of the warfighters instead of in PDM." The C-5 fleet currently has its highest mission-capable rate in six years and its highest aircraft-availability rate in seven years. The difference between the two is sometimes an aircraft may be available but is unable to perform a particular mission. Nakayama credited the improvement to a spectrum of initiatives overseen by the C-5 program office in the Aerospace Sustainment Directorate, as well as numerous improvements by the 402nd Maintenance Wing on the PDM production line. One of those improvements is the implementation of Maintenance Steering Group 3. It's a different way of doing maintenance which looks at all inspections performed on aircraft, including field inspections, and seeks to avoid duplication of work. On April 8, the last plane undergoing a PDM under the legacy system lifted off from Robins. The remaining C-5s are undergoing MSG-3 PDM, as will all C-5s which come here in the future. Jeff Bridger, chief of ASD's C-5 Program Management Branch, said his office's Aircraft Availability Improvement Program has also contributed to more C-5s being in the hands of the warfighter. "It's the conglomeration of a lot of efforts coming to fruition," he said. As a part of MSG-3 implementation, a close study was done of all maintenance inspections performed through the life of the aircraft, including isochronal field inspections and PDM inspections. Isochronal inspections, which include major and minor inspections done between PDM, are somewhat similar to PDM but on a smaller scale. The study found duplicate work on the two inspections. To streamline the process, MSG-3 shifts some work done in isochronal inspections to PDM and vice versa. The shift not only improves efficiency, it means for some models the aircraft go from needing PDM every six to every eight years. The overall result is a better sustained, more capable C-5 fleet to fulfill our nation's airlift requirements, wherever and whenever they might be.