Aircraft Efficiency and effectiveness

[sachin@india]

Hi guys, recently I have read that F-22 cost somewhere around 400mn USD and for every one hour flying they need 30 hr of maintenance... can people shed some light on the various aircraft on the given parameter

1. Price
2. Cost of operation/ hr
3. Maintenance hrs for every hr of Flying.

Regards

 

[Strigon]

Seems like it contains info you may already know or might add something new.

 

[gambit]

Another gullible got suckered by Rachel Maddow. This hack piece have been debunked here many times before. Please look them up using the keywords 'f-22 rachel maddow'.

 

[Strigon]

Another gullible got suckered by Rachel Maddow

Chill man, just thought it was interesting and related to the person asking for more info. Didn't say Rachel Maddow is some defense expert. I'm happy for you and your F22, its one of my fav crafts.

 

[Chogy]

ALL jet aircraft receive a large number of maintenance man-hours relative to flight hours. It is the nature of the beast. But this report and others implies that the jet goes up for one hour, then 30 men must swarm all over it for an hour, before it is allowed to fly again. It doesn't work that way.

What you have are periods of extensive operation, followed by down time as things like fluids, tires, and brakes are changed, systems inspected, engines maintained, etc. This is not only for the F-22, but for airplanes like 737's.

 

[Jango]

There are two things really, scheduled maintenance, and the sudden problems.
Scheduled maintenance for commercial jets happens after a set period of time, determined by the manufacturer, while the sudden problems can create a headache, particularly in getting the spare parts to keep the stock level up.

So every aircraft has scheduled maintenance hours on it, and that includes removing the engines and other big parts after a set time.

BTW Chogy, which aircraft did you fly?

 

[silko]

hmm.... a year ago i was placed in SAS technical service by my school to see how it is to work as a aircraft technician and in that time i asked some of them and they said commercial jets have scheduled maintanances, i didn't ask him for military planes.

i did ask about entering the military section of the Oslo airport, but it was strict. we managed to forgett our ID's so we where stuck between the tower and the road back to the hangar...

anyway, i do agree with chogy. when there was maintanance with a airplane (A321 if i remember correctly) we didn't do much. a short maintanance before getting back to flying. we checked some systems in the cockpit, checked the water, engines, landing gears and that sort of stuff.

we did a C-check on a 737-600 IIRC and in that time there where a lot to do. man did my hands get dirty. i am also curious to know, how does planes that is used in both civil and military industry being maintenenced?

why does people believe 50 men is going to swarm around an airplane? because it is big? i heard some time ago about one guy taking care of a engine that had problems right before take off. it saved the crew and company a lot of trouble and everyone came to the destination 30 mins. late instead of one day.

 

[Chogy]

There are two things really, scheduled maintenance, and the sudden problems.
Scheduled maintenance for commercial jets happens after a set period of time, determined by the manufacturer, while the sudden problems can create a headache, particularly in getting the spare parts to keep the stock level up.

So every aircraft has scheduled maintenance hours on it, and that includes removing the engines and other big parts after a set time.

BTW Chogy, which aircraft did you fly?

You are absolutely correct, as is silko. These maintenance schedules are set in stone, and followed religiously, because of the safety issue. If we maintained our cars like we maintain jets, we'd check brake fluid, oil, transmission fluid, and tire pressure before EVERY trip; we'd change oil every 1,000km, brakes every 5,000km, etc. There are HUGE amounts of preventive maintenance done.

I've flown MD-80, MD-11, Boeing 727, 737, 757, 767, and 777 aircraft.

 

[gambit]

Chill man, just thought it was interesting and related to the person asking for more info. Didn't say Rachel Maddow is some defense expert. I'm happy for you and your F22, its one of my fav crafts.

Here is a basic primer on statistics regarding the subject...

Do you know how to tow? | Flying Safety | Find Articles

Meanwhile, your wing walker notices that the maintenance stand, originally thought to be clear of the wing tip, is in the way, and he's trying to get your attention to stop the aircraft. However, you are still distracted by the vehicle tow driver, so you don't hear or see the wing walker yelling and giving you the emergency stop signal. Your wing walker is now trying to move the stand out of the way-but it's too late!

When you tow an aircraft, there are two 'wing walkers' and one 'tail walker'. Including the tow truck driver and the crew chief, at least five man-hours were involved just for moving the aircraft from one spot to another. Are we going to criticize the military air services or the airliner company for incompetency in moving just one aircraft? The same idea is applied to the F-22 fighter or the 777 airliner whether an aircraft is being moved or a hydraulic actuator being changed. Each aircraft will have different requirements in maintenance.

The Maddow hack piece was deliberately misleading with an obvious political bias. But it was successful because it was simplistic and straight to the points gullible people needed. Whereas if a truly honest journalist were to do the job...

 

[Jango]

You are absolutely correct, as is silko. These maintenance schedules are set in stone, and followed religiously, because of the safety issue. If we maintained our cars like we maintain jets, we'd check brake fluid, oil, transmission fluid, and tire pressure before EVERY trip; we'd change oil every 1,000km, brakes every 5,000km, etc. There are HUGE amounts of preventive maintenance done.

I've flown MD-80, MD-11, Boeing 727, 737, 757, 767, and 777 aircraft.

quite a inventory you have there!

BTW which type of 777? 300, 200, ER, LR??

 

[Jango]

from another site

For example purposes, in 2008 assuming an average sector length of 7 hours, the B777 had a total maintenance cost of $1500/Flight hour, almost 10 times lower than the 747. With PIA using the 777 on domestic runs, a flight hour cost in the region of $3000-$5000 is more realistic.

poor engines and run down spares can raise the costs