Steve George recalled preparing his squadron aboard HMS Invincible for wartime servicing rules at the start of the Falklands War. Those rules reduced maintenance requirements, and he began applying them as a junior engineering officer. His senior engineer stopped the change because operational conditions had not yet made it necessary. Full peacetime servicing would keep the aircraft in the best condition possible until the squadron needed to accept the reduced requirements. Careful routine maintenance left the engineers more scope to demand additional performance later.
Notable Point · 1:33:55-1:35:28
Why Invincible retained peacetime aircraft servicing
HMS Invincible's engineers were instructed to retain full peacetime servicing until operational needs justified reduced maintenance.