Joseph Kalathil
MGMT 419
Aircraft Operational Concept
It is the aircraft “Operational Concept” that clearly illustrates the difference between civil and military aircraft operations. Blanchard (1981) identifies some of the essential elements of the military “Operational Concept” in 1 through 7 below: 1. MISSION DEFINITION - How is the system to be used? What are the mission objectives? How are the objectives to be accomplished? Where will the aircraft be operated?
All of these and other mission requirements will affect the maintenance needs. 2. PERFORMANCE AND PHYSICAL PARAMETERS - Identify the operating characteristics. Identify critical system performance parameters. What systems and equipment must always work (minimum equipment list)? 3. OPERATIONAL DEPLOYMENT - How many aircraft will be purchased? Where will they be operated? Where will the different levels of maintenance be performed or contracted? 4. OPERATIONAL LIFE CYCLE - How long is the system intended be used and how will it be disposed of? 5. UTILIZATION REQUIREMENTS - How much is the equipment expected to be used? (flying time per day/month/year etc.)? This will have a profound affect on the projected maintenance and logistic support requirements. 6. EFFECTIVENESS FACTORS - What measure of reliability or operational availability is expected of the system? What are the maintenance requirements to achieve these objectives? 7. OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT - In what kind of environments or geographical locations are the aircraft expected to operate (tropical, desert, arctic, etc.) and be maintained?
Maintenance Concept The maintenance concept delineates maintenance support levels, repair policies, organizational responsibilities for maintenance, effectiveness measures (e.g., maintenance time and cost constraints, supply responsiveness factors, facility utilization requirements, etc.), maintenance environments, and is a principal