[Pilots] MN Aircraft Maintenance/Operations Report

[Jerry Rosendahl]

1.)  *Open Discrepancies - 15.* This list has been cut in half since last
month's report. Kudos to John Quilling and his staff at Stanton Airfield.
Report is attached. We all need to remember too that he and his staff are
not exclusive to CAP. Well over 100 tail numbers go through Stanton
maintenance every year.

2.)  *N9912L is DOWN for 100 hour/annual inspection. The remaining 15
airplanes in the fleet are UP!* Next up in maintenance is N837CP (3.6 hours
from 100 hour/annual inspection), then N369CP (6.5 hours from 50 hour
inspection) and then N98824 (8.1 hours from 100 hour/annual inspection).
Remainder of the fleet is anywhere from 19.9 hours to 49.1 hours from the
next inspection.

3.)  *Our use of the Wing Maintenance Hangar is slowly resuming.* We are
currently able to put 2 or 3 airplanes into the hangar, *BUT* much still
needs to be cleaned out/moved into its final location. Movement of
airplanes needs to be done with the utmost of caution and safety.

4.)  *Fly it or lose it!* This applies to us as a Wing, and it applies to
you as a Squadron. Last year we lost 3 airplanes (2 to other Wings in our
Region and 1 was sold). Wing Operations staff is especially monitoring our
flying hours now as we get close to the end of the federal fiscal year on
9/30/23. Like always, at some point in September we'll be cut off from
flights with an "A" designation. We currently have requests for an airplane
from squadrons without a plane.

Currently we only have 5 squadrons that are at or ahead of the 200 hours
per year pace that is our goal as assigned by the Air Force - 130th, No.
Hennepin, St. Croix, Mankato and Viking. The next 5 are Anoka, Crow Wing,
St. Cloud, Hutchinson and Southeast MN. If you're not in that list you're
behind the curve. Fly it or lose it.

Here are some statistics on flying hours by MN. In federal fiscal year 2022
we were #39 overall in CAP in flying hours. We were #4 out of the 5 Wings
with as many or more airplanes as we have. We were #3 in our Region out of
7. In the federal fiscal year 2023 so far we've improved to #31 overall, #6
of 8 Wings with the same number or more of airplanes, and #2 in the Region.

5.)  *My contact at your squadron is your Operations Officer or Commander.* On
two occasions I've run afoul of the wishes of the squadron by dealing with
someone else. Now is a good time to review the document for your squadron
on the Wing intranet site under Operations where it lists the ops officer
and hangar access and make sure the information is up to date.

6.)  *Requests for a specific type of aircraft go to Tony Rossini.* Our
Wing currently has C172s with G1000 and ESP, C172s with G1000, C172s with
G650, and C172s "without". We also have C182s with G1000 and ESP, C182s
with G1000, and one C182 with G650. I didn't even mention the SAR package
on some G650s. Our instructors are challenged with getting their squadron
pilots up to date and speed with these differences since you never know
what airplane you'll have when called out. Contact Tony with your requests.
I only deal with movement of aircraft relating to maintenance.

7.)  *When do you add oil - below 5 - below 6 - when it looks dirty??* We've
had airplanes come into maintenance showing as little as 4 quarts on the
dipstick. That is dangerous to the airplane and the passengers in it. The
word from John Quilling is *ADD A QUART AT 5 1/2*. We don't even care if
the flight is coming to maintenance for an oil change, it's that dangerous
to go below 5 1/2. We know that some of that will blow out the breather
over 6, but the benefits outweigh the negatives.

8.)  *Are you using the most up to date NP and EP checklists?* Along with
completing Form 71 inspections and checking on loose equipment on our
aircraft going through maintenance I always check to see if the correct
checklists are in the plane. How do you know? You can find out by going
into ORMS and scrolling down to Search Checklists.

9.) *Where and what is the Administrative Preflight Checklist?* The first
item on every checklist is to review the AIF. That goes beyond the cover!
In addition to a list of administrative items to verify, this document
includes names and phone numbers of people at Wing and Region level plus
the NOC. Have you looked at this? Document is attached.

10.) *Contact me with any comments or questions.*

Jerry Rosendahl, Lt Col, CAP
MN Wing Aircraft Maintenance Officer
6517858911 (text preferred)
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