The maintainers were able to get the A-10’s flying and mission ready within 24 hours by performing extra inspections and increasing their workload to get back on schedule.
“Ice can significantly reduce lift, increase drag and add significant weight to the aircraft which can be dangerous,” said Senior Airman Carlos Ramon-Cruz, 75th Aircraft Maintenance Unit crew chief. “We performed extra inspections and allowed the aircraft to warm up longer to ensure everything went smoothly. We kept an extra eye out for any ice or snow on the aircraft during these conditions.”
While aircraft are impacted by the cold weather, the Airmen working on them are also vulnerable to the frigid temperatures.
“The cold effects the maintainers more than it does the aircraft,” said Senior Master Sgt. Jeffrey Zimmerman, 75th AMU superintendent. “The maintainers have to wear more clothes and they mainly work with their hands so when they get cold and frigid it slows down the entire maintenance process.”
While the maintainers have to adapt to the cold, the 75th AMU will have to work extra to make up for the production lost due to the snow storm.
“January 4th was supposed to be our first flying day of the year,” said Zimmerman. “Consequently, we got behind and all together we lost 18 sorties from the snow day that we will have to make up.”
To make up for the flying hours that were lost, the 75th AMU will increase its production over the next few weeks to get back on its normal flying schedule.
“We already perform 24-hour operations on the flight line so we’re increasing our sorties at the end of each week to help us regain the time that was lost,” said Ramon-Cruz. “We’re going to be vamping up the work load to get back on the track that we we’re on before the snowstorm.”
Because the base doesn’t receive below freezing temperatures on a frequent basis it is not fully equipped to handle the cold and icy conditions.
“We keep our aircraft covered to help keep the snow off but we don’t have any de-icing machines to heat up the planes,” said Zimmerman. “If we have ice on the planes we have to just wait it out until we can get them flyable.”
While continuing to adapt to the cold weather and staying on schedule, the 75th AMU emphasized how nothing, including the weather, will stop them from completing their mission.
“There’s no heat, or air conditioning out there on the flight line,” said Zimmerman. “If the base is open were going to be working around the clock to keep our aircraft flying.”