So they never do mainenance on armed AC?

[flyfort17]

I guess they do.

[11bee]

Where did you hear that? I've seen plenty of pics of armed aircraft with open access panels, just like the shot above.

What I haven't seen are armed aircraft undergoing heavy maint, with engines being pulled, etc.

I'm sure someone will be along shortly to prove me wrong on this..,,,

[Dave Roof]

That isn't considered "maintenance". They are doing weapons systems and avionics systems checks, which is standard after loading ordnance and prior to launch.

Edited September 1, 2016 by Dave Roof

[Finn]

Technically speaking the a/c are loaded, not armed. Here is one with getting an engine change with some bombs still loaded on it:

as for the pic above the bombs are configured as mines as in Mk-36 Destructors.

Jari

[Don]

Cool picture though. Great diorama waiting to happen.

[Sgt Shultz II]

I once had to open a camera access 504L (RF-4C) in front of the cockpit (left side) to replace a broken camera while the crew was in and engines running. We had to account for every fastener in the panel and have the line chief sign it off so they could taxi out for the mission.

But then that was during the Viet Nam war too!

Edited September 1, 2016 by Sgt Shultz II

[Janissary]

Where did you hear that? I've seen plenty of pics of armed aircraft with open access panels, just like the shot above.

What I haven't seen are armed aircraft undergoing heavy maint, with engines being pulled, etc.

I'm sure someone will be along shortly to prove me wrong on this..,,,

I think OP might be referring to the arguments over John Vojtech's F-15 years ago:

https://www.umm-usa.com/mygallery/galleryf15c.html

This was the runner up for the best aircraft (or best of show?) at the Nationals. In addition to all the dicussions about the decision (supposedly not sanding off the ejection pin marks inside the intakes before using it as a base for adding details to it), some people claimed at the time the F-15 was not realistic because it was loaded with open panels. Anyway, not saying right or wrong, but I thought the OP is referring to this. Well, maybe not.

[yardbird78]

IIRC, SAC used to insist that refueling, loading ordnance and anything but the most minor maintenance all be done as separate operations. During Giant Thrust II, 1978, Andersen AFB, Guam, they experimented doing all three at the same time. It worked out well.

[Grey Ghost 531]

We had the CO's radar go down once when he was engines turning and loaded with missiles on the flight deck. Key part of that sentence was "CO's". It was a simple fix, they shut down the stbd engine so we could open the radome (port engine still running), extend the radar package and change out the receiver crystals. They were little ceramic cased diodes that isolated the receive circuit from the transmit circuit. We closed up the radar and radome, he started the starboard engine an off he went on his sortie. If it were anyone but the CO and maybe AMO, we probably wouldn't have done it and they'd have launched the spare.

[TaiidanTomcat]

There are exceptions to every rule, but generally speaking on the ship, maintenance by definition occurs on the maintenance deck and not on the flight deck, and you can bet the Navy is pretty serious about having ordnance willy nilly.

[Scooby]

I only ever worked on a loaded jet once, it was during the G-8 conference. We were providing 24-7 cap for the world leaders.

Otherwise I never have seen it done, even in wartime.

[thegoodsgt]

I think OP might be referring to the arguments over John Vojtech's F-15 years ago:

This was the runner up for the best aircraft (or best of show?) at the Nationals. In addition to all the dicussions about the decision (supposedly not sanding off the ejection pin marks inside the intakes before using it as a base for adding details to it), some people claimed at the time the F-15 was not realistic because it was loaded with open panels. Anyway, not saying right or wrong, but I thought the OP is referring to this. Well, maybe not.

Of course the ironic part of that controversy was the model wasn't entered in the diorama category.

[SinisterVampire319]

[admiralcag]

It looks more like they are loading instead of doing a check. My question is are the impulse cartridges installed in the MERs while external power is applied and doing an avionics check. That was a big no-no in the Air Force when I was in weapons loading. Different service, different era. YMMV...

Vern