Fabrication flight ensuring mission success

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Ed Ekpoudom
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England (AFPN) --  “Find it, fix it, paint it, make it, repack it.”

This is the motto of the 48th Equipment Maintenance Squadron’s fabrication flight as they work around the clock at their four facilities to keep the F-15C Eagles and F-15E Strike Eagles here mission-ready.

“Basically, our flight touches virtually all the structures or areas of the aircraft in one form or another,” said Master Sgt. Douglas Jones, fabrication flight superintendent, “be it through sheet-metal repair, corrosion prevention, painting, flight controls, engines or the men and women sitting in the seats strapping on the parachutes.”

Two of the shops are manned 24-hours a day, and those shops that are not have people on standby ready to go at moment’s notice, he said.

“The tempo here is about four times faster than any other base I’ve been at except Osan Air Base, Korea,” said Jones. “The workload here is challenging.”

There are about 90 people in the flight, and its diverse work centers -- aircraft metals technology, aircraft structural maintenance, survival equipment and nondestructive inspection -- collectively work to ensure the structural, propulsion and aircrew survivability of the wing’s aircraft.

The survival equipment facility maintains aircrew gear such as parachutes, pilot protective clothing and life rafts and preservers.

“We teach our troops here that the parachutes we pack have to work right the first time because gravity works every time,” said Tech. Sgt. Thomas Hennessey, 48th EMS survival equipment shop superintendent.

The aircraft structural maintenance work center’s primary duty is to ensure the aircraft are repaired properly. F-15 parts are made of many types of materials including aluminum, steel, titanium and composites.

“Typically, titanium panels underneath the engine can reach temperatures in excess of 1,000 degrees,” said Tech. Sgt. Rodney McPhail, noncommissioned officer in charge of the squadron’s aircraft structural maintenance shop. “This can cause the panels to turn purple or black, which can force us to replace the damaged panel.

“If it’s cracked, broken or missing, we can fix it,” said McPhail. “We can take a flat piece of metal and make it into just about any object on this jet.”

The aircraft structural maintenance work center’s paint and corrosion element does more than just keep the jets looking pretty.

“The beautification part is secondary,” said Tech. Sgt. Cullen Longman, corrosion control facility superintendent. “Our primary objective is to identify corrosion.”

The facility maintains the structural integrity of the aircraft and aerospace ground equipment by preventing corrosion, applying protective coatings, removing corrosion once it is found, treating aircraft metals, and reapplying primer, paint and topcoats, said Longman.

Many replacement parts for the wing’s jets are made by the aircraft metals technology work center and its arsenal of machinery valued at nearly $1 million. The center’s expertise even extends beyond making aircraft parts.

“We can make virtually anything with the machines in our work center,” said Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Metz, aircraft metals technology superintendent. “We make parts for the whole base, not just the wing’s aircraft. For example, if a base agency requires a part, we research the feasibility of manufacturing, and then we proceed with the customer requests.”

The nondestructive inspection laboratory maintains the long-term structural integrity of wing’s aircraft by examining and testing aircraft fluids and internal structures.

“Everything we do here is similar to what a doctor would do for a human,” said Master Sgt. John Stevenson, laboratory superintendent. “We X-ray aircraft like a doctor would on bones and analyze jet engine oil as thoroughly as medics examine human blood.”

Lab workers also conduct ultrasounds on critical aircraft systems, and use dye to check for cracks on aircraft parts similar to the way doctors check for scratches on the surface of an eye, Stevenson said.

A majority of the flight’s people are young airmen and one of its newest members, Airman 1st Class William Kammerer, said he gets a sense of job satisfaction from his work.

“I feel very good about our ability to always keep the planes in the air,” said Kammerer. (Courtesy of U.S. Air Forces in Europe News Service)