Team Uses Sophisticated Equipment To Find Flaws
They endure wide swings in temperature and dusty conditions, and
they are constantly pushed to their limits. They are the F-15E
Strike Eagles stationed at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan.
But they are machines -- expensive machines that require teams
of experts to keep them in top running condition.
One of those teams is the nondestructive inspection or team,
part of the 455th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron.
Nondestructive inspection, or NDI, is a program the Air Force
uses to ensure the durability of structural parts and components of
aircraft without destroying the part and, in some cases, without
removing the part from the aircraft. This team uses sophisticated
equipment to find discrepancies in critical areas of the
aircraft.
In combat zones such as Bagram Airfield, the tools and
techniques of NDI may be the same as at a home base, but the team
works at an increased tempo.
Staff Sgt. Corey Whitman, non-commissioned officer in charge of
NDI, said the NDI team uses processes such as eddy current,
ultrasound, and X-rays to test the components of the aircraft. They
also test lubricants.
Eddy current is a process that uses electrical current to detect
abnormalities in the material such as cracks or damage from heat.
Ultrasound and X-rays are also used for finding cracks depending on
the type of material inspected. If the part to be tested cannot be
removed from the aircraft, it is done on the aircraft.
"For the most part we deal with cracks and oil analysis,"
Sergeant Whitman said. "We have different types of inspections. We
have phase inspections and those that are ordered by the crew
chief."
Phase inspections are scheduled inspections and preventive
maintenance accomplished when the aircraft accumulates a certain
number of flying hours.
As for the F-15s at Bagram, there have been no major trouble
areas and the aircraft have been performing quite well according to
the NDI team.
"Really, just about every place on the aircraft is vulnerable to
some type of failure," said Senior Airman Kevin Louie, a journeyman
technician for NDI. "Some are more critical than others. But I
can't say that we have any major trouble areas with our F-15s."
He said as far as the type of work is concerned, everything he
is doing here is the same as he does at home. The only differences
are the size of facilities and the environment. "We are trying to
make this a better lab. The work we do here has never been done
here before."
Sergeant Whitman said he knows the importance of his work and
the necessity of keeping the aircraft in the air and doing it
safely. "I know I'm here for a good reason, and I'm playing a part
in something that's bigger than me."
(Aero-News salutes Staff Sgt. Kevin Tomko, 455th Air
Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs)