Flight builds training replicas, saves money

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Cecilio Ricardo
  • Air Force Print News
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) --  Airmen at the 982nd Maintenance Squadron Trainer Development Flight here are creating replicas that not only meet the hands-on training needs of technical school students but also saves the Air Force money.

Members of the flight are creating functional replicas that range in size as big as an aircraft engine to something as small as a mold of teeth that serve as training tools for students.

As an aerospace maintenance instructor, one of the lessons Tech. Sgt. Michael Vinson teaches Airmen is how to maintain landing gear on a KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft. Instead of using a multimillion dollar plane, they worked on a replica, or trainer, created by the trainer development flight.

"You name it, we make it," said Mitch Weatherly, flight chief.

With the use of the Fused Deposition Modeler, or FDM, the trainer development flight can create 3-D solid models using polycarbonate, synthetic plastic, wax and other materials to build durable, fully functional trainers.

For larger projects like an AC-130H Spectre gunship aircraft, the flight recycles an old C-130 fuselage and parts, and combines FDM-made parts to create a life-size replica that can be used by Air Force technical training students.

Creating these replicas is not easy.

"We have to learn as we go," said Carl Cummings, an engineering technician for the flight. "We take experts from other career fields, combine their job knowledge with our engineering, and create a trainer replica identical to what Airmen use in the field."

"Every project is unique and different, (and we) deal with various career fields such as avionics systems, medical readiness, telecommunications and much more," Mr. Weatherly said. "Our laborers become jacks of all trades and masters of none."

In 2004 the flight produced 281 trainer units. In 2005 production doubled to 579 units.

"With production growing, we have saved $1.8 million in cost avoidance for fiscal year 2006," Mr. Weatherly said.

"Another goal we have is to prevent Air Force supervisors from saying things like, ‘forget everything you learned in technical school,'" Weatherly said.

Trainers allow Airmen to learn practical applications with realistic, life-size training gear. With realistic equipment, Airmen are better prepared for their jobs after technical training.

The trainer units also save time and effort for technical school instructors who struggle with holding trainees' attention during classes. At Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, the temperature often reaches more than 100 degrees on the flightline. Some trainers produced by the flight allow training instructors to avoid distractions created by the elements.

"You lose the trainees' focus when they're dehydrated and can't think," said Sergeant Vinson. "The trainer is a huge help. By having the trainer indoors, it increases the learning process exponentially."