48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England (USAFENS) -- “Find it, fix it, paint it, make it, repack it.”

This is the motto of the 48th Equipment Maintenance Squadron Fabrication Flight and its four facilities who work around the clock 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. 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,” said Master Sgt. Douglas Jones, 48th EMS Fabrication Flight superintendent.

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

“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 working to ensure the structural, propulsion and aircrew survivability integrity of the wing’s aircraft.

The survival equipment facility maintains aircrew survivability equipment 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 different parts of the aircraft are repaired properly. Parts of the aircraft are made of different types of materials to include aluminum, steel, titanium and composite materials.

“Typically titanium panels underneath the engine can reach temperatures in excess of 1,000 degrees,” said Tech. Sgt. Rodney McPhail, NCOIC, 48th EMS aircraft structural maintenance shop. “This can cause the panels to turn purple or black, which can force us to replace the damaged panel.”

The work center is open 24-hours a day and is extremely versatile in the services it can offer.

“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, 48th EMS 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 its found, treating aircraft metals, and reapplying primer, paint and topcoats, said Longman.

The corrosion control facility uses several techniques to protect its people and reduce the harm to the environment the materials they work with can cause.

“The safety of our people and assets is paramount,” said Longman. “We use a lot of chemicals here. When we use paints, solvents can evaporate into a person’s face, and chemicals in direct contact with skin can cause significant health problems. That is why we always wear the necessary protective equipment.”

The facility significantly reduces their hazardous wastes by recycling and reusing solvents, said Longman.

“We put the paints and solvents through a machine called a distiller, which separates solids from the solvents,” he said. “We then reuse the solvents and properly dispose the reduced amount of hazardous solid waste.”

While the aircraft structural maintenance work center makes repairs to the aircraft’s metallic parts, much of the metal work is done by the aircraft metals technology work center and their arsenal of machinery valued at nearly $1 million. Their expertise even extends beyond the wing’s aircraft.

“We can make virtually anything with the machines in our work center,” said Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Metz, 48th EMS 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.

Our demand is based on the customer’s needs,” he said. “We can make anything our customers ask for so long as it’s a legal request and it’s cost effective to make the part here.”

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, 48th EMS NDI laboratory superintendent. “We X-ray aircraft like a doctor would on bones and analyze jet engine oil as thoroughly as medics examine human blood.”

NDI lab personnel 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.

“Find it, fix it, paint it, make it, repack it.” The members of the 48th EMS Fabrication Flight -- armed with dedication, job knowledge and integrity -- ensure mission success.

-- USAFENS --