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A flightline expediter with the 1st Special Operations Wing has designed and built upgraded aircraft wash carts that the wing says are cutting engine wash times by 75% and saving hundreds of thousands of dollars at Hurlburt Field.
“Before upgrading the carts, the process was somewhat complicated regarding both timeliness to complete washes and serviceability of wash carts on base,” said the flightline expediter. “A lot of us hear ‘that’s the way we’ve always done it,’ but it doesn’t have to stay like that.”
Wash carts perform compressor washes and rinses that clear salt and debris from aircraft engines to restore performance. The modified system allows maintainers to clean all four engines during a single cycle instead of working them one at a time, reducing total ground maintenance hours and returning aircraft to the flight line faster for operational taskings.
“Extra time back helps our maintainers in the long run with the flying schedule,” said the expediter. “More available aircraft allows us to share the wealth and fly different aircraft instead of the same ones repeatedly.”
The financial impact is also significant, according to the wing. Using $18,000 in innovation funds, the maintainer built two prototype carts and established a parts list others can source. The wing estimates the effort saved more than $300,000 compared with buying commercial replacements. New carts typically run nearly $56,000 each, and the wing needs six—about $324,000 in total.
“My strategy for keeping parts cost-effective was market research and cost comparison between companies,” explained the expediter. “Additionally, locally sourced parts played a huge role in building the wash carts. This assisted me with building a parts list that everyone looking to build a similar cart would be able to purchase.”
Leaders said the bottom-up fix aligns with 1st SOW priorities to adapt operations, modernize legacy processes and sustain readiness across Air Force Special Operations Command.
“I hope that innovations like this can inspire our Airmen to realize that good ideas don’t have to remain as thoughts,” the expediter said. “Every person in the Air Force will have a time in their career to refine something and make it a better environment for each other. This helps us stay operational and relevant despite logistical hurdles, any time, any place.”
