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 The US Air Force recently extended the phase maintenance interval for its fleet of more than 600 Block 40/42/50/52 F-16C/Ds, indicating that the reliability of the aircraft increases as the fleet matures. The interval for F-16 maintenance extended from a two-phase, 200-flight hour interval to a single-phase, 300-flight hour interval. The extension essentially cuts the F-16 phase inspection workload by a third and increases the number of aircraft on the flight line available for operational training or combat missions.
The F-16 was originally fielded with an inspection cycle of four phases, one every fifty flight hours. The interval has been progressively increased to 100 hours, to 150 hours, and then to 200 hours. These increases are results of extensive analysis of aircraft maintenance data in addition to reliability improvements incorporated over the years in the F-16 components. The USAF Blocks 25/30/32
F-16C/D fleet has been operating at a 300-hour phase interval with great success for a year. |
