[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.''

                          ____________________