Stick 'em up: Corrosion control shop develops decals for rapid recognition

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Austin M. May
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE MILDENHALL, England (AFNS) --  From the "bandit" nose at the tip to the "Box D" high on the tail, 100th Air Refueling Wing KC-135 Stratotankers are easy to distinguish from other bases' Stratotankers.

Getting them that way, however, is no small task.

It takes a crew of Airmen at the aircraft structural maintenance corrosion control shop a full eight-hour day to create the entire decal set applied to the outside of one KC-135. Applying them, along with all the other markings, takes three full days, said Staff Sgt. Christopher Breaux, an aircraft structural maintenance craftsman.

Thankfully, Sergeant Breaux said, the decals last a good eight years; longer than he's been applying them here.

The sergeant has spent the last five years of his Air Force career at RAF Mildenhall, and by now knows the process for creating the decals backwards and forwards. He makes all the different decals for every airplane at RAF Mildenhall that needs them, including transient and special operations aircraft.

Besides the obvious emblems on the 100th ARW planes, including the base shield and tri-colored stripe at the very top of the tail, there are stickers of all shapes and sizes on the KC-135. The crew chiefs' names, aircraft serial number and warning stickers are just a few examples.

Sergeant Breaux said there are 17 decals on the outside of each jet, but didn't dare to guess the number on the inside.

"There are a lot," he said laughing.

Most of the stickers they produce are small lettering jobs, until they get to the big D. The 100th ARW's trademark tail flash is a 4 foot by 4 foot square, and is created in four different sections. It's made on a thermal printer that would fit on a kitchen countertop, which is a huge leap from three years ago when the decals were mostly painted directly onto the jet.

"We were able to cut the process from six days to three by printing the decals," Sergeant Breaux said, although some details, such as the bandit nose, are still painted.

Once the decals are printed they're fed into an automated cutting machine which removes excess material and gets them ready for application. From there, an Airman with a steady hand and a sharp eye applies them to the skin of the Stratotanker and seals the edges with a substance similar to clear nail polish so wind won't rip them off.

Master Sgt. Jason Wade, the aircraft structural maintenance shop chief, said the process of creating the decals is nearly identical to the one employed by custom auto body shops.

Being able to create the graphics in-house is crucial, Sergeant Wade said. To have an entire set created on the local economy would cost more than $1,600. With more than 20 aircraft serviced by the shop on a regular basis, it only makes sense to have the equipment on-hand.

Aircraft decals aren't the only product of the shop. Just about anything metal is handled by the corrosion control shop; they routinely build parts from scratch, paint them, mark them and get them completely ready to fly.

"It feels good being the 'go-to guys,'" Sergeant Breaux said, noting his shop doesn't buy or stock any of the parts they manage. "We fabricate them."