CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –
James Singletary found himself among a new circle of friends recently, but they weren't the kind he'd ever expected.
Speaking to upper-ranking experts dressed in high-dollar business suits at a Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering conference was a change of pace from the maintainer's workshop in the 437th Maintenance Squadron here.
The humble aircraft structural maintainer engaged the audience at the conference in Baltimore May 18 with the presentation of a new, locally developed method for working with lightweight, high-strength composite materials.
The process originated from a troublesome C-17 aircraft component which had the tendency, after being repaired, of not staying that way. For Mr. Singletary, this challenge was a good reason to find a solution, and with the help of his team of technicians, he spearheaded the development of an all-new repair process on base.
In mid-2007, his repair section received five C-17 ailerons to repair. Each of the five had leading edge rub strips needing replacement. When properly installed, the rub strips protect the aileron, a hinged flight control surface of an aircraft wing used to generate a rolling motion, from friction wear.
"The only information we had to repair them was from the technical data, but it was insufficient," said Mr. Singletary.
The types of problems encountered in the technical data were misclassifications for damage, incorrect tooling and improper bonding directions, he said.
"After a while, when they keep coming back bad, you start to want to find a better way to fix them," said Floyd Garner, a shift supervisor with the aircraft structural maintenance section.
Facing a brick wall in the repair process and not having the instructions needed to perform their job, the maintenance team decided to find a way around it.
"We assembled a group of maintainers to develop a process and worked with engineers to rework it and get out all the bugs," Mr. Singletary said. "We just had to step up to the challenge and not let a speed bump turn into a stop sign."
The team devised a new repair process in the course of a year and successfully repaired all five rub strips. One year since their completion, none have been returned defective, he said.
To date, Charleston AFB has the only structural repair shop in Air Mobility Command performing repairs to the 20-foot long C-17 ailerons, resulting in a cost savings for the base. All other AMC bases ship the parts to depot repair facilities off station, said Master Sgt. Charlie Walton, section chief of structural maintenance.
"Boeing said our section repairs them better than depot can," he said.
Because of the success of the new repair procedure, Mr. Singletary was able catch a bit of the spotlight from SAMPE, an international composite materials society, at its annual conference.
He was invited to give a presentation to top engineers, designers and doctors of philosophy in composite materials from organizations such as Boeing, the University of Dayton Research Institute and the Air Force Research Laboratory on the subject of rub strip removal, repair and bonding procedures.
The goal of the presentation was to offer those who design materials a glimpse of how they are maintained and restored on a daily basis, Mr. Singletary said.
"A lot of times we hear from a developer's standpoint, but they really like hearing about how it actually works out," he said.
The painstaking year of documenting, researching and coordinating the new repair process all boiled down to one thing, Mr. Singletary said - making better aircraft that are stronger, more reliable and safer for the defense of the U.S.
"Anything we can do to speed up the process, we do," he said. "Sending biscuits, bullets and blankets to make the mission happen, that's our job."