[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 94 (Tuesday, July 19, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: July 19, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
THE V-22 OSPREY PROGRAM RECOMMENDED AS MOST COST-EFFECTIVE
(Mr. WELDON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1
minute and to revise and extend his remarks and include extraneous
matter.)
Mr. WELDON. Mr. Speaker, Congress has supported the V-22 Osprey
program because it is the right aircraft for the Marine Corps and it is
the right aircraft for our nation. The V-22 has been consistently shown
as the most cost-effective replacement for the Marine Corps CH-46
medium-lift aircraft.
By ever standard of military readiness and safety, the CH-46 should
already be retired. Because of continued delays on the V-22, we are now
pushing the margins of acceptable risk with the CH-46 fleet and
endangering lives. Consider, for example: For each hour that the CH-46s
fly, mechanics must perform seventeen and one-half hours of
maintenance; Each time a CH-46 crashes, the service spends $1 million
and upward to salvage it because of shortages in the fleet; They can
not fly as fast, climb as high or carry a full crew; During the 5-year
delay in the V-22 program, there have been 14 CH-46 crashes killing 26
people.
I have a Navy Times article outlining the problems in the CH-46
fleet, and I will insert it in the Record. The message is clear: every
day we delay the V-22 replacement we jeopardize the lives of our
soldiers in the field. It is time for the Pentagon to move ahead on the
V-22.
[From the Navy Times, July 11, 1994]
How Long Can the CH-46 Last?
(By Gidget Fuentes)
(Due to time constraint all illustrations have been omitted)
Several words described the CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter:
Workhorse. Vietnam-era. Obsolete. Museum piece. Overused.
Sentimental. Determined. Aging. Tired. Venerable.
It is a study in contradictions and a metaphor for the
Marine Corps: Old and tradition bound, yet tough as nails and
ready to fight.
To infantry Marines, the Sea Knight is what gets them where
they're supposed to go, picks them up from a hot LZ, hauls
their mail and cookies and brings in reinforcements. Still,
there are few places groundpounders dislike more than being
in the belly of a helicopter that joined the Marine Corps a
decade or more ago, before many of them were born.
To her ``drivers,'' as helicopter pilots like to be called,
the tandem-rotor Sea Knight is still a worthy aircraft. But
they worry that the 46s are getting too old and that the
outlook for a replacement aircraft seems to be perpetually 10
years over the horizon.
But to the wrench-turning knuckle-busters, the mechanics
who service these old birds 10 to 12 hours a day, they are
creatures of remarkable endurance. Sure, they require 17 or
more hours of maintenance for every hour of flight, they say.
But as long as they're carefully and meticulously maintained,
they can last, seemingly, forever.
That's a good thing. The best estimates for a medium-lift
replacement aircraft--most likely the tilt-rotor V-22
Osprey--doesn't have it joining the fleet in large numbers
perhaps as late as 2010.
The H-46 was based on the Boeing Vertol 107 in 1961, and
went into hastened production starting in 1962. The first
operational delivery in 1964 went to HMM-265 from New River,
N.C. That squadron, now at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, is
celebrating its 30th anniversary July 29.
``It's not often an airplane sees 30 years,'' noted CW02
Joe Boyer, a spokesman at the Marine Corps Base Kaneohe Bay,
Hawaii. Since the production line was shut down in 1971, even
the newest 46s are, at 23, old in aircraft terms.
Even with upgrades in the airframes, motors, rotors and
other equipment on board, however, by most definitions these
aircraft should be retired or retiring right now.
Among military aircraft, the only ones that are older are
the B-52 long-range bomber, which may remain in the fleet
with new wings and avionics, the A-6 Intruder, which is
planned to retire by 1999, and the KC-130 refueler turboprop,
which entered the Marine Corps inventory in 1961, a year
before the Sea Knight.
Pilots and aircrews talk in amazement about the 46's steam
gauges and vacuum tubes.
Noted Cpl. Steven Barott, an avionics technician with HMM-
365 at New River MCAS, N.C., who was born the year after the
last 46 was built: ``The 46 is getting older so a lot more
things break more often.'' Adds a cynical pilot, noting that
a replacement is not going to come anytime soon: ``My 6-year-
old has an opportunity to do his first tour in the 46.''
jeopardizing lives?
The H-46's age has many people wondering not who will be
its next generation of pilots, but how long these birds will
be safe to fly--and whether they'll survive until their
likely replacement by the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft.
``As good, as concentrated as the crews and the maintenance
people are * * *, they're tying to keep birds that are 30
years old in the air,'' says James Tanner, whose son, Navy
Lt. Michael Tanner, was killed Jan. 10 in an HH-46D accident
500 miles east of Bermuda. ``Why do we have to jeopardize
people's lives, day in and day out?''
a costly priority
The answer is plain dollars and cents. The V-22, which has
been plagued by developmental problems--including a deadly
crash in the Potomac River two years ago--is a very costly
program, and it comes at a time when Congress and the
Pentagon can't afford very many of those. During the Bush
administration, then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney tried to
kill the Osprey Congress refused, and ordered that
development be continued. But the squabble added years to the
development cycle.
Now the Marine Corps is stuck with its CH-46s for another
decade or two. And the question everyone is asking is whether
the aircraft can remain viable for that long.
As it is, Marine CH-46Es are already restricted in how much
they can carry and how they can fly--so the aircraft are no
longer capable of doing all they were designed to do.
And lest Marines think they are the only ones on the short
end of this stick, they need only look at their sister
service: The Navy, which uses its H-46Ds for vertical
replenishment, cargo handling and search-and-rescue missions,
has no real planned successor. As of now, their replacement
is supposed to be the Marine CH-46E.
``The aircraft is good, but you do outlive the technology
at some point,'' said Lt. Col. Michael J. Bixiones, the H-46
program manager based at Naval Aviation Depot Cherry Point,
N.C. The main challenge, he said, ``will be to compete for
the limited dollars that are out there'' in order to keep the
aircraft airworthy.
A replacement is long overdue. ``We're going to have third-
generation 46 pilots,'' said Lt. Gen. Richard D. Hearney, who
is leaving his post as the Corps' deputy chief of staff for
aviation to become assistant commandant this month. The 46s
will be around so long that it's conceivable the kids
piloting them in the next century will have grandfathers who
flew the same choppers in the 1960s.
the cost of being flight-worthy
Keeping this aging fleet operational and safe until it can
be replaced is the immediate priority for Marine aviation,
officials say. But it won't be easy--or cheap.
Mission requirements say the Corps should have 254 CH-46
Sea Knights. But the inventory is actually only 240, and
there is no way to get more aircraft. Expected losses of one
to two aircraft per year will further aggravate the
shortfall.
Just maintaining the current Marine fleet of H-46s through
full replacement with the V-22--maybe not until 2015 or 2020
depending on production--will cost $500 million for budgeted
upgrades and $1.6 billion if the Pentagon agrees to extend
its service life with major overhaul. Not all that money is
even budgeted yet.
Since the choppers can't be replaced, each time a 46 goes
down, the Corps must try to salvage it. As much as $1 million
or more will be spent to make a single downed 46 fly again.
As bad as things are for the Marine Corps, Marine 46 pilots
have it easy. They fly the more modern--starting in 1974--CH-
46Es, which have more powerful engines than the H-46s flown
by the Navy.
The average Sea Knight has logged in 8,500 hours in its
life, but continues to fly 400 hours or so a year because of
high operational tempos. By the year 2005, it will have flown
over 10,000 hours. By 2010, almost all will surpass 10,000
hours, its initial service life, and its maximum life will
depend on a costly service life extension program. The
10,000-hour limit was an arbitrary number, however--an
unusually high one for military helicopters, aviators say.
One thing's for sure, say officials, Vietnam veterans and
aircrews: They never expected to see the 46 reach that
milestone.
These geriatric aircraft, like aging people, are no longer
able to do all they once could. Officials have placed strict
limits on what 46 pilots can put their choppers through,
fearing failure of the helicopters' rotor heads. For example:
The 46s with old rotor heads--those with faulty pitch
shafts--may not be flown faster than 110 knots (versus 130
knots it was designed to do), cannot bank at more than a 30-
degree angle (versus 45 degrees) and cannot exceed 6,000 feet
of altitude (versus 10,000).
Likewise, the 46s can't carry the load they were designed
for. No more than eight combat-loaded Marines can be carried
at a time (versus the 16 the birds were designed to haul) and
no more than 1,700 pounds of cargo can be carried (versus
4,000 pounds).
A safe record
And yet, despite all those shortcomings, the Marine H-46
fleet has stayed relatively safe over the past 12 months
compared with several rashes of crashes over the past eight
years. It has a lower mishap rate since 1977 than all but two
Marine airframes. Only the F/A-18 Hornet fighter and KC-130
cargo jet have performed more safely. ``The safety record has
been very good,'' Hearney said, crediting good maintenance,
training and good commanders. Mishaps have occurred, some
fatal, however, involving Marine and Navy helicopters. There
seems to be no pattern of cause, ranging from pilot error,
poor aircrew coordination, engine or transmission failure and
cracks in rotor pitch shafts.
Even with its extensive maintenance program, the H-46
requires about 17.5 maintenance hours for every flight hour--
more than the nine it originally required in 1962 but
significantly less than the heavier CH-53 Huey, which
requires 24. Mechanics spend 1.35 hours inspecting and
maintaining the restricted rotor heads alone. Cpl. Brent A.
Backus, a 24-year-old technician with HMM-264, said the
typical preflight check takes nearly three hours and usually
he finds some ``wear and tear.'' He added: ``You check
everything.''
The CH-46 ``is still a super aircraft. It's safe. But it's
time that we move on,'' said Brig. Gen. Fred McCorkle,
commander of Marine Corps Air Bases East at Cherry Point and
a Vietnam veteran who's logged more than 5,000 hours in the
CH-46. ``I won't be sad to see it go.''
Not that it'll be going anytime soon, of course. The CH-46,
often called ``the Frog,'' succeeded the single-rotor UH-34
helicopter during the Vietnam War and continues to be
upgraded and updated today. But while modernization has
helped, it's also blamed in part for the reduced amount of
weight the choppers can carry. The ``Bull Frog'' variant--so
named because of larger fuel tanks mounted externally on the
chopper's stub wings--has greater range than the conventional
Frog, but has even less cargo capacity. It can fly 411 miles
instead of 236, but carries less cargo and has no ``over-the-
horizon'' capability that enables a rapid, heliborne assault
to defended beaches or inland locations from the decks of a
helicopter carrier 50 miles at sea.
Safety concerns with the rotor heads, which drive the
helicopter's twin rotor blades and which have experienced
cracks due to stress and use, resulted in operational
restrictions imposed in July 1993 and additional inspections
and maintenance requirements on the rotor heads imposed since
the late 1980s.
An H-46 with a restricted rotor head must undergo 18
special inspections of the head, assembly and even landing
gear wheels. These helicopters must carry less weight, fly
slower, fly lower, turn wider and be more closely inspected.
Weight limits mean more sorties or aircraft are usually
needed for a mission. During Operation Restore Hope in
Somalia, a forward refueling point was set up in Baledogie,
halfway from the amphibious ship Tripoli to the city of
Baidoa, where the CH-46s hauled an infantry company. So far,
nearly half of the inventory has the new pitch shafts and are
no longer operationally restricted but must still do those
special inspections.
Those tactical restrictions have frustrated commanders.
``We need something a little bit more state of the art,'' Lt.
Col. Tony Zell, HMM-264 commander, said in a slight
understatement. Still, he said, ``it is the most versatile
aircraft.''
New vital parts
Starting next year, all Marine and Navy H-46s will get new
critical dynamic components--rotor heads, drive systems,
transmissions and pitch shafts--under the ``dynamic component
upgrade'' program, or DCU, at a cost of $662,000 per
helicopter.
This program, already funded, is a blessing for all field
commanders who've had to grapple with strict limitations on
current, inferior rotor heads suffering from wear and stress.
The new parts will be stronger and less corrosive with
stainless steel to better withstand saltwater and sand, and
eliminate the special inspections, Bixiones said.
``It improves the safety of the airplane, although it's not
unsafe now,'' Lt. Col. Ron Johnson, the Marine H-46
requirements officer on the chief of naval operations staff
at the Pentagon. ``Obviously it's in our best interest to
make sure it's fielded as quickly as possible.''
``We should have a restriction-free, inspection-free
airplane,'' he added.
Capt. John Dixison, assistant maintenance officer with HMM-
261 and a 25-year veteran, noted that the restrictions have
denied younger aviators and crews some combat maneuvers.
``We've had to compensate with a lot of classroom in the
ready room,'' Dixison said. The squadron will get the
unrestricted heads later this summer, prior to deploying.
Fixing for the long run
Keeping the Sea Knight safer and flying will cost plenty,
at least a half-billion dollars and likely some $1.6 billion
if a service life extension program is needed to keep it
flying safely until the Osprey enters the service in large
numbers. These programs follow other replacement programs
done in the 1980s.
The money won't buy a new aircraft, Marine officials note.
It won't buy more capability. It won't buy an interim
replacement. What it does buy, they say, is enough safety to
keep the Sea Knight flying another two or three decades.
Officials are beefing up routine maintenance for all H-46s
at 10,000 flight hours. Sea Knights go through regularly
scheduled depot-level maintenance after every 1,000 hours in
the air, and regular aircraft service period adjustment
inspections every 12 months. These maintenance periods aren't
cheap: Each depot-level checkup costs $500,000.
Once CH-46s reach 10,000 flight hours, they're put through
a more in-depth airframe inspection. The extra tests and
repairs cost an additional $10,000, and so far four 46s have
been put through the program. Another three or four more will
undergo it soon, said Johnson.
``We have not found anything to date that indicates to us
that the airplane can't go past 12,500 hours, but we don't
know how far past,'' Johnson said. A service life assessment,
now under way, will try to answer that question, he said.
The $3 million study will be finished by 1996. Among the
tests will be to take a CH-46 airframe and stress it ``until
it fails,'' Johnson explained. ``Then we'll know exactly how
many hours. . . that airframe can go to.''
The service life extension program developed after that
study is complete will help determine the V-22 production
schedule, because it will provide the most realistic outlook
yet on how long the Corps can wait. ``These may include
electronic warfare improvements, ground proximity warning
systems, better armor, crash-resistant cockpit seats and a
weight-reduction program,'' Johnson said. ``We intend to make
any safety improvements that are necessary.''
inspections, inspections
Meanwhile squadrons are burdened with the intricate task of
inspecting the helicopter's crucial parts along with normal
inspection cycles for such things as corrosion, fatigue,
vibration and cracks in the airframe and in the engines. The
task falls on tactical squadron and aviation support squadron
Marines expert in maintenance, Hearney calls them ``in the
trenches.''
``These kids will do anything not to let each other down,''
said Lt. Col. W.G. Duncan, commander of HMM-365 (reinforced),
which is now deployed in the Mediterranean on deployment with
the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. ``They will work as long
as it's required.''
After every 10 flight hours, Marines must conduct a
``nondestructive inspection'' of the pitch varying housings,
which tend to crack and have been linked to several fatal
mishaps. These control the pitch, or angle, of each of the
six rotor blades.
Often, squadron Marines deployed aboard ship have little
room to do required inspections and maintenance. ``Ten- and
25-hour NDI inspection cycles, which are major problems
ashore, become show stoppers once afloat,'' Marine Maj. Rich
T. McFadden wrote as the logistics officer of HMM-264 after a
six-month deployment in 1991. His comments were included in a
report in the Marine Corps' ``lessons learned'' system.
But squadron Marines swear by the aircraft and training.
``As long as we maintain it, it's going to last a long
time,'' said Cpl. Brent A. Backus with HMM-264. ``I'd never
second-guess the Frog. I'd fly it every day.''
The workload falls heavily on squadron mechanics,
technicians and operators to do what many consider is miracle
work to preserve the aircraft in this work environment. ``As
soon as we get into a sandy zone, it's right where you
started from,'' noted Cpl. James Raymond, an HMM-365 crew
chief.
Marines say they are working long hours, sometimes weekends
prior to deployment. At the same time, they must keep current
with volumes of safety procedures and repairs. Every repair
must be researched, since ``you're not supposed to memorize
everything,'' said Cpl. Daniel Simpson, an airframes mechanic
in 365's metalshop.
Making a repair without checking the manual may seem more
expedient, the wrench-turners say, but if it's not done
exactly by the book, the lives of the pilots and crew are in
danger.
Marines, particularly in understaffed squadrons, feel the
heat. GySgt. Jon Eskam, a structures mechanic and quality
assurance chief with HMM-365, said it takes a technician
about 30 minutes to inspect the rotor pitch shaft, connecting
link and housing, which must be done after every 10 flight
hours, and a technician often inspects several aircraft
daily. Like other helicopters, the Sea Knight requires many
eyes checking for cracks and corrosion when it flies in less-
than-perfect conditions.
``Gosh, it's always over water and in a dirty, dusty
environment,'' said Eskam, a 14-year veteran. ``I've just
seen as much wear and tear on these things as I'd like to
see.''
So bad can it get, in fact, that Col. D.J. Lavoy, Marine
Aircraft Group 26 commander at New River, stood down his
group in late March ``just to give everybody a five-day
break. We were getting tired, and there's a lot of hard
work.''
No bone to pick
The CH-46 community, like others in Marine aviation,
suffers from delays in getting spare parts and parts
repaired, Marines say.
Getting parts is another concern with Marines. Cuts to
operations and maintenance budgets and delays at depots mean
some helicopters are down and inoperable until a new part
comes--or one is taken from another aircraft. Sometimes, the
aircraft are flown without the missing equipment--as long as
it doesn't affect safety.
Aviation officials cringe at the word ``cannabalize,''
noting that parts aren't normally removed from working
aircraft. But squadron Marines say it is not unusual to seek
the part you need on another chopper that's missing something
else. One maintenance chief said doing that takes more time
than if a part is ordered and received--but that if the
aircraft must get airborne, they'll do whatever it takes.
``There's not a boneyard of 46s sitting somewhere,'' said
Johnson.
``It's a juggling act to run maintenance,'' Dixison said.
Between 10-hour and 100-hour inspections, daily missions and
training, keeping aircraft ready is hard when there are parts
still on order. ``I can certainly remember when they were
more plentiful.''
The shrinking inventory just from normal attrition may
force the Corps to give squadron commanders fewer aircraft.
The CH-53D Sea Stallion, a leaner sister to the mighty,
triple engine CH-53E Super Stallion, flies medium-lift
missions, but its large size makes it an easier battlefield
target and more difficult to place on a flatdeck amphib.
So the salvage operations continue as long as the aircraft
can be recovered. Gashes and dents are repaired with new
skin. A CH-46E that crashed in a forested Hawaii mountainside
last fall, for example, is being repaired at the Naval
Aviation Depot at Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station,
N.C., and the squadron expects it'll be back in the air.
``Crash-damaged airplanes are being repaired as quickly as
we can get them back to the fleet,'' said Johnson. Sometimes
damaged airplanes are ``glued together to make one whole
airframe.''
It's a process that eventually would have to end for lack
of 46s to salvage. But not in the foreseeable future.
Noted Bixiones: ``I think the 46 will be around until the
last one can't be repaired.''
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