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BULLSEYE
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Structural maintainers provide backbone of RPAs
By Senior Airman Christian Clausen
432nd Wing/432nd Air Expeditionary Wing
Public Affairs
CREECH AIR FORCE BASE, Nev.
— When people have a blemish, they see
a dermatologist. When they have a physi-
ological problem, they see an orthopedist.
For the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper,
aircraft structural maintainers fill both the
aesthetic and structural maintenance roles
to keep remotely piloted aircraft in check.
Aircraft structural maintenance is part
of the fabrication flight here at Creech AFB,
Nevada. This flight is made up of the non-
destructive inspection shop and the metals
technology shop which all work together
to ensure the life of the RPA enterprise is
sustained with aircraft fully capable of mis-
sion execution.
“Depending on the base, aircraft struc-
tural maintenance is responsible for repair
and fabrication of aircraft skin, structures,
metallic tube assemblies, windows, cano-
pies, and corrosion control,” said Tech.
Sgt. Daniel, 432nd Maintenance Squadron
aircraft structural maintenance craftsman.
“Here we focus on performing advanced
composite repairs.”
RPAs are mostly constructed of advanced
compositesmaterialswhich areasstrong,or
stronger than metal but are superior in areas
such as weight and stealth. These factors
help give RPAs their 18-24 hour endurance
U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Christian Clausen
Senior Airman Joshua, 432nd Maintenance
Squadron aircraft structural maintenance
journeyman sands down a wing panel for
the MQ-1 Predator Feb. 18 at Creech Air Force
Base, Nev. The MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9
Reaper are made completely of composite
materials such as carbon fiber, Kevlar, and
specialized variations of fiberglass. Because
of this, the structural maintenance Airmen
must wear proper protective equipment to
keep the hazardous carbon shavings and
paint from being inhaled.
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able to the joint commanders. This makes
structural maintenance a job that must be
taken seriously.
“The job can be very tedious because
everything we do is very precise and has to
be perfect the first time,” said Senior Air-
man Brian, 432nd MXS aircraft structural
maintenance journeyman. “There’s a lot
on your shoulders because if you mess up,
that plane is down for another 24 hours and
you have to answer a lot of questions. It’s a
very important job because if we mess up,
a plane could crash.”
During the repair process even if one
layer of carbon fiber, Kevlar, or fiberglass is
improperly bonded, it could result in a mis-
take that still renders the aircraft unable to
fly, making the shop start the process over
from scratch.
Although the job may be tedious,
Creech structural maintenance takes it
seriously, ensuring everything is ready to
U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Christian Clausen go. They consistently produce an excellent
Senior Airman Joshua, 432nd Maintenance Squadron aircraft structural maintenance quality assurance inspection pass rate of 95
journeyman dons a mask designed to keep hazardous paint and composite particles percent. The average Air Force QA inspec-
from being breathed in before sanding a panel for the MQ-1 Predator Feb. 18 at Creech tion rate is 80 percent.
Air Force Base, Nev. The aircraft structural maintenance shop is responsible for the repair “The same professionalism they show
and fabrication of aircraft skin, structures, metallic tube assemblies, windows, canopies here and ability for them to do excellent
and corrosion control for the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper. work and ensure the aircraft are ready
to fly, is the exact same mission they do
time, high flight ceiling and the ability to “If we didn’t exist there wouldn’t be a downrange,” said Master Sgt. Michael,
stay off of some radar detection. Materials means of organizational level or even field 432nd MXS assistant flight chief. “They
included in these composite groups used in level repair,” Daniel said. “If an MQ-1 or take the skills and experience they get here
RPA construction are carbon fiber, Kevlar, MQ-9 had a structural flaw caused by wear every day, head downrange and are ready
to go, not just for training but for the actual
and specialized versions of fiberglass. and tear, moisture absorption or any way missions where we eliminate the enemy or
“The RPAs are unique in that they’re of structurally damaging the aircraft, it protect the warfighters.”
would eventually, dependent on the dam-
made completely of composite material,” age, become structurally unsound and not Michael went on to say this is one of
Daniel said. “In my opinion this is the airworthy.” the best structural maintenance shops he’s
future of aviation because composites are been able to work with and even though
stronger, cheaper, more durable, and they Aircraft structural maintenance is ex- working with all composite materials is
don’t corrode. Like everything they aren’t tremely important because an aircraft that a challenge, his Airmen are the best and
invincible so we fabricate and repair the can’t fly is not only a loss of money for the most knowledgeable Airmen to get the
skin and structure for the aircraft.” Air Force, but also in the RPA enterprise, mission done the first time.
reduces the situational awareness avail-
If damage to the aircraft is suspected
during an inspection, the structural
maintainers will determine the type of
damage, the severity, and whether or not
it’s repairable.
“Typically with the composite material
we commonly experience surface defects
most followed by delamination and dis-
bonds,” Daniel said. “The number one
enemy of composite is damage by water
intrusion. The water vapor gets into a panel
and then freezes at altitude, expands, and
causes the panels to break.”
To construct an aircraft out of compos-
ite material, carbon is generated into thread
and then woven together to make a cloth-
like material or laminate. The cloth is then
covered in a resin and then shaped into
panels before being subjected to extreme
heat and pressure to form a solid panel.
Some common issues are disbonds, a
separation of the laminate from the core and U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Christian Clausen
delamination, a separation of multiple plies Senior Airman Brian, 432nd Maintenance Squadron aircraft structural maintenance
of laminate. To fix these problems the struc- journeyman lays down layers of composite fabric used to repair a MQ-1 Predator wing
tural maintainers use tools to sand panels panel Feb. 18 at Creech Air Force Base, Nev. Without the structural maintenance shop,
down to the base of the panel and then flaws caused by wear and tear, moisture absorption, or other structural damages would
replace the layers that were sanded away. eventually cause the aircraft to become structurally unsound and not airworthy.