Photo By Tech. Sgt. Darius Sostre-Miroir | Technical Sargent Luna Falcon, 920th Maintenance Squadron aircraft structural...... read more read more
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PATRICK SPACE FORCE BASE, Fla. -- When a bird struck the leading edge of one of the wing’s C-130J Combat King II aircraft during a routine training mission, the 920th Maintenance Squadron’s aircraft structural maintenance shop expeditiously repaired the damage and returned the aircraft to flying operations within two months; saving the wing more than 10,000 hours in maintenance, showcasing the maintenance group’s ability to accelerate change within the wing.
The ASM shop is a team of mechanics who are responsible for services that include corrosion treatment and prevention, general repairs and painting the wing’s HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters and HC-130J Combat King II aircraft.
In order to repair the aircraft's leading-edge damage, a part had to be ordered which led a significant problem: the earliest delivery date was over a year away.
“Since the part we needed to make the repair would take 500 days to be delivered, the ASM shop decided to repair the leading edge themselves," said Maj. Jaimie Sciarrino, 920th MXS commander. "Doing the repair at home station showcased ingenuity from the ASM team and resulted in a drastic decrease in the aircrafts down time.”
When replacement parts can't be delivered in a timely manner, the ASM shop can build them by molding sheets of metal to the appropriate shape. This shape can then be combined with other parts to make the final piece. Once complete, it is shined and ready for assembly.
To repair the leading-edge damage, the ASM shop cut the damaged area out from the aircraft and riveted in their newly created piece. After just 63 days, the leading-edge was fully repaired, polished, painted and inspected.
“Building that piece was the fastest and most efficient option," said Tech. Sgt. Alexander Ferguson, 920th MXS ASM mechanic. "It gave our team a chance to use our expertise to make parts for repairs in order to get aircraft back in the air for continued operations with minimal downtime."
To keep aircraft mission ready, the ASM shop works closely with two additional maintenance shops; the metal tech shop, whose primary responsibility is to melt and forge metal fittings, and the nondestructive inspection shop, who inspect aircraft using x-ray machines to check for small cracks or tears that need repair.
“The ingenuity of this repair showcases the ability of our Airmen to make innovative decisions and execute sound leadership from all levels within the organization," Sciarrino said. "No matter how maintenance intensive the job is, our Airmen always demonstrate their ability to stay mission focused no matter what obstacles they are confronted with."
The 920th RQW is Air Force Reserve Command’s only combat search and rescue wing whose mission is to plan, lead and conduct military rescue operations and missions to deny competitors and adversaries exploitation of isolated personnel.
| Date Taken: | 05.03.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 05.13.2022 07:53 |
| Story ID: | 419851 |
| Location: | COCOA BEACH, FL, US |
| Web Views: | 27 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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