An outsider might assume that high wind gusts at Selfridge Air National Guard Base on a very blustery March morning may have curtailed flying due to safety concerns on take-off or landing.
Really, it was the mechanics checking the oil on the A-10 Thunderbolt IIs at the base who were having the problems.
“The oil needs to be checked within 30 minutes after landing on the engines on the A-10, said Master Sgt. Adam Dittenber, a production superintendent overseeing the crew chiefs of the 127th Maintenance Group, who work on the A-10s at Selfridge.
The maintainers, working with the pilots and other Airmen of the 107th Fighter Squadron, had set a lofty goal for the March drill weekend of the 127th Wing. Typically, the pilots and aircraft fly two “go’s” per weekend, a morning and an afternoon sortie of aircraft. During the March weekend, not only did the team determine to fly a third sortie on both Saturday and Sunday, but they determined to increase the number aircraft in each “go,” an effort to maximize training opportunities ahead of a scheduled overseas deployment of A-10 aircraft and Airmen from the wing.
Each of the scheduled sorties took place on Saturday, with aircraft flying north to a training range near Grayling, Mich., and then returning to base. On Sunday, the maintainers arrived at work to find wind gusts regularly exceeding 30 miles per hour, which meant that safety concerns prevented the maintenance Airman from working on the top of the aircraft.
Oil samples and checks are made from the top of an A-10s engines, meaning the Airmen need to be on top of the aircraft to perform the necessary tests – a thing that safety concerns prohibit when gusts exceed 30 miles per hour.
“Our maintenance operations center and our expediter, who is the front-line supervisor out there up and down the line, watching what’s going on, were keeping a close eye on the weather,” said Master Sgt. Robert Mitchell, another “pro-super” for the A-10s. “We had several starts and stops, because the first mission is always to work safe.”
If A-10 engine oil samples can’t be taken within 30 minutes after engine shut-down after a landing, it means that maintainers will need to fire up the engines again on another day and let them run for a while, to be able to check the oil while its hot on another day. And that costs both time and money.
“We’re mindful of our resources and want to be able to maximize what we can accomplish,” said Master Sgt. Brian Carney.
In the end, only two sets of sorties ended up flying on the Sunday of the monthly drill weekend, due to concerns about the winds.
“Its unfortunate, but that’s part of being flexible and doing what the mission requires. We’ll find another day to add in additional hours to get everyone the flight time they need, but to be able to do it in a way that is safe for all involved,” Dittenber said.