Consolidated Maintnenance

[Frenchie]

I'm done arguing the point, gentlemen.  I will say however, that I see all the "numbers".  I have observed the staff at NHQ doing their jobs and, I'm satisfied with what they have accomplished in the few years the system has been working.  CAP-USAF is satisfied, the BOG is satisfied, the NEC is satisfied and the NB is satisfied.    Everyone in the decision making process has been given the figures and has decided on the path which we are taking.

Let's go outside the numbers and metrics for a moment.  Think about your own plane.  Do you think you're getting a bad deal or that your plane is poorly maintained?  If not, then how could that have possibly happened without CMX?

I have seen poorly maintained CAP planes and basically most of them got that way because the squadron custodian didn't care.  If you go take a look at my squadron's plane, you'll find a clean, squawk free aircraft.  It was that way before CMX.  The reason is because we have always taken care of it as well as our own planes.  So what does NHQ say to all those squadrons who were doing a great job of maintaining their aircraft?  They tell  us we're not doing a good enough job and we're now going to do it our way, oh and by the way, you're going to be spending even more of your free time making this work, and no that doesn't get plugged into the metric.

I've worked with the government long enough to know that all great ideas don't always end up as intended.  Those that work on contract tend to do a great job at first, but once entrenched they start cutting corners and the end result suffers.  Then you find yourself in a situation where you can't do anything else, because going another direction requires more money, and before congress gives more money, they generally want answers as to why.  So now you find yourself in a situation where you have someone thousands of miles away providing oversight, instead of someone just a few miles away and you can't go back to the way it was.

[LaPierreHN]

FW

Your IFR certification static transponder test takes 10 days ??   No, they are storing your plane for 9 days.   I owned my last 182 for 26 years and it never took more that 2 – 3 hours to get it done.   You are going to the wrong FBO.

Heck it only takes about an hour to do that test?  They could totally replace all the tubing in one day.   I have done it.

When we need a static test for our Corp plane, we call an FBO about 10 miles away and he brings his test equipment to our airport and he does 2 or 3 planes in that one visit. Ours plus a couple of other non CAP planes that need it.   He only charges us $175 for that test.   That makes his trip worthwhile.

If we had to send our plane to one of the possible CA CMXs, about 100 miles from here, it would cost CAP probably  $200 for the test, plus $375 for the A9 sorties, if they couldn't do it while we waited.  And big shops probably could not do that.

Why 100 miles away.  That is just across town, the LA Basin that is.  This is NOT RI

This sort of test could be combined with every other annual, but where is the incentive to save money, if National will always pay for it.  And if we had transponder/encoder problems, it would have to be done out of cycle anyway.

Again, so much for saving money the CAP way.

[Eclipse]

The detractors are trying to use pocket arguments against CMX, and they don't "fly" (sorry).

Like everything on the macro-level, there will be places where a program doesn't 100% fit every single situation like a glove, but as a whole is good for the organization.  Sure there are places where the FBO's rock, the PIC's cleaned the a/c's with a toothbrush, and watched every nickel, but there are plenty of places where that is not the case...REALLY not the case.

With 500+ planes in 50 states and thousands of opinions over who does the best oil changes, you can't make everyone happy.

If your 100-hours are taking 4 weeks to turn around, then you need to address that locally with either the choice of CMX facility or the number of pilots your state has available.

This program provides better oversight, more consistent performance, and more opportunities for CAP pilots to fly on USAF's nickel.  You can argue the first two if you are so inclined, but all we ever hear from pilots is that its too expensive to fly.  Its part of professionalizing the organization and leveraging some non-trivial economies of scale, instead of treating each plane like its own little flying club.

There's no reason those extra transport sorties can't be used to train other aircrew without deviating from the flight plans or maintenance rules one bit.

Get full crews and have them do flight planning, take photos enroute, drop a beacon somewhere along the way, practice radio use and a/g coordination, etc.  Heck,have members stand along the flight path and practice using a signal mirror.

Flying over a unit in the evening and practicing some non-radio communication enroute would be HUGE to cadets who never even get to SEE a CAP airplane.

Make these trips opportunities instead of complaining.

[Flying Pig]

 I have no control over CAP maintenance.  But what I do know is that I am going to start racking up some serious x-country time!

[SoCalCAPOfficer]

So, what's the "Orange Pumpkin"?

The "Orange Pumpkin" is our squadrons beloved 182.  Great flying plane, except it is painted Orange and White.

[FW]

FW

Your IFR certification static transponder test takes 10 days ??   No, they are storing your plane for 9 days.   I owned my last 182 for 26 years and it never took more that 2 – 3 hours to get it done.   You are going to the wrong FBO.

No, it only takes a couple of hours for me too.  Just takes 9 days for it to get scheduled.
BTW, I don't think pitot static and transponder certs are part of the CMX contract. 

So, what's the "Orange Pumpkin"?

The "Orange Pumpkin" is our squadrons beloved 182.  Great flying plane, except it is painted Orange and White.

Ah, yes. the famous Cessna O&W.   The early 80s made for some great colors.  Keep trying for the new paint and interior unless NHQ is ready to trade it in for new one.

[Eclipse]

So, what's the "Orange Pumpkin"?

The "Orange Pumpkin" is our squadrons beloved 182.  Great flying plane, except it is painted Orange and White.

Like this?



Its probably a safety issue! 

[SoCalCAPOfficer]

So, what's the "Orange Pumpkin"?

The "Orange Pumpkin" is our squadrons beloved 182.  Great flying plane, except it is painted Orange and White.

Like this?


Its probably a safety issue! 

Close, but ours doesnt have that nice a color of orange.  Ours is more pumpkin colored.

[SAR-EMT1]

Im a non-pilot so correct me if Im wrong, but I thought that a tag-along with the CMX program was to get all of our planes in red white and blue "fleet" colors with the decals by the end of the CMX phase-in date.

[WT]

One question: Does the quoted $ 1 MILLION IN SAVINGS include the sorites flown and chase aircraft to reach the preferred facility??

[FW]

^Short ans.: Yes.