Maintainers at Ogden Air Logistics Center in Utah decided they needed a better way to work on C-130 airlifters, rather than suspending themselves from the ceiling via a harness and cable. Some guys still have to strap up, but most get to move around the aircraft with much more freedom on the specially built C-130 maintenance stands that snug the cargo hauler around its wings and down the fuselage. Besides offering a solid work area, officials say, it enables different skill groups to work together, thus speeding up overall maintenance.
A legislative standoff has led to a lapse in a $4.26 billion small business innovation contracting program widely used by the Air Force and could spell the end of it entirely, industry sources warned Air & Space Forces Magazine.
