Propulsion Flight turns Golden Wrench

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman David Dobrydney
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  The Pratt & Whitney aircraft engine company presented the 48th Maintenance Group Propulsion Flight with its Golden Wrench Award June 21, 2011.

"On behalf of the dedicated men and women at Pratt & Whitney, we feel proud to be connected to the U.S. Air Force and all of you," said Mark Buongiorno, program director for the P&W F100 engine, who presented the award to Col. John Quintas, 48th Fighter Wing commander, and Chief Master Sgt. Bryan Cannon, 48th MXG Propulsion Flight chief. "Everything we see is a testament to what American ingenuity and American dedication can do."

The Golden Wrench award was created by P&W in 1995 to recognize outstanding achievements in propulsion maintenance. In the case of the 48th MXG, the award honored the Propulsion Flight's work to streamline production of spare engines during the past 18 months. At that time, engines were taking 162 days to produce from first arrival for maintenance to final checks.

"It was a very stressful environment," said Senior Airman Joshua Dean, 48th Component Maintenance Squadron aerospace propulsionist.

To reverse this trend, the Propulsion Flight partnered with P&W and the local Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century office to re-design how the engines were produced, said Capt. Kevin Walton, 48th MXG Propulsion Flight commander.

Among the strategies implemented were a reorganization of the shop to reduce unnecessary movement within the facility and assignment of maintainers to one specific engine.

Today, the time an engine spends in maintenance has been reduced from 162 to 44 days, and their movement in the maintenance hangar has dropped from 103 miles to 22 miles per engine.

Airman Dean said the changes have led to a more productive flight that can devote time to other necessary duties such as training.

"We're better trained now, which improves the quality of the engines," he said.

Colonel Quintas thanked the members of the flight for their hard work that has eliminated the shop's backlog and is currently exceeding the Air Force average "on wing" time for the F100 engine by 53 hours.

"This is a showcase for the 48th Fighter Wing," said Colonel Quintas, as he spoke of the special relationship between pilots and the Airmen who maintain their aircraft.

"You all demonstrate the reason that exists," he said. Pointing to his pilot's wings, Colonel Quintas added, "from all of us who wear these wings, thank you."