MSG-3 cleared for takeoff Published March 12, 2010 By Wayne Crenshaw 78 ABW/PA ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Maintainers here have finished work on the first C-5 Galaxy to undergo a process called Maintenance Steering Group 3, or MSG-3, which has been used for decades by commercial airlines to reduce aircraft downtime. The 559th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, which handles programmed depot maintenance for C-5s, started work on the prototype MSG-3 aircraft in May and finished it this week, said Dave Nakayama, squadron director. The 730th Aircraft Sustainment Group has been planning the transition to MSG-3 for several years with the expectation it will improve aircraft availability. The 638th Supply Chain Management Group has also supported the effort. The key part of MSG-3 is it 'marries' various levels of inspections into a synchronized system of inspections. That eliminates duplicate work and increases aircraft availability. Under MSG-3, more system checks are done during PDM, making it a more comprehensive inspection. When combined with field checks, this allows planes to remain in the field for a longer interval between PDM cycles. The prototype plane would normally come back for PDM in six years but is now scheduled to return in eight years, said Nakayama. The prototype plane underwent 72,000 man hours of work on 15,000 different maintenance operations, yet it cleared functional test with only two flights, instead of the normal four to six, he added.