The US Air Force runs its entire C-130 fleet through an upkeep package referred to as Programmed Depot Maintenance (PDM). Field began work on a 21-year-old aircraft that due to monetary and political constraints, had missed 4 major overhauls and had no PDM’s performed in its lifetime.
The aircraft had to make a 5-day journey to be inducted into the Oklahoma City facility. Field Aerospace provided 4 instructors to guide the client’s crew across the entire Pacific. Every day brought another system failure and maintenance was required to proceed. The PDM became not just depot maintenance, but a complete refurbishment. The work was complicated by the fact that without access to the US technical order system, none of the Time Compliance Technical Orders (TCTO) had been conducted in over 15 years.
We completed a total of 17 TCTO’s and 4 Isochronal Inspections, simultaneously with the PDM upkeep. This effort required major structural work, including replacing the left and right sloping longerons, 12 upper and 9 lower caps, and 6 chine plates. Finally, 8 rainbow fittings and 9 corner fittings had to be replaced to make the Hercules airworthy again.
The refurbished C-130 departed Oklahoma and was returned to service where it continues to be utilized for a variety of missions, including tactical airdrop, VIP transport, search and rescue, and even cloud seeding. This project greatly extended the life of a mission-critical aircraft for this US ally