A course of developed and refined at Fleet Readiness Middle East (FRCE) is producing constructive leads to the upkeep, restore and overhaul of the CH-53E Tremendous Stallion and MH-53E Sea Dragon heavy-lift helicopters serviced on the depot.
A staff of engineers and artisans from the H-53 Plane Parts Store labored collectively to enhance the way through which the plane’s spar fittings are evaluated for match, leading to a better acceptance charge and quicker turnaround occasions for the elements. The spar fittings fasten the helicopter’s horizontal stabilizer to the tail pylon, permitting the horizontal stabilizer to stop the helicopter from experiencing extreme up-and-down pitching throughout flight.
The brand new course of makes use of a stress plate and pressure-sensitive movie to obviously establish excessive and low areas on the mount ft of the 2 inboard metallic spar fittings within the horizontal stabilizer, which affix to corresponding mating surfaces on the tail pylon. These mount ft should make 80% contact, with no gaps bigger than two-thousandths of an inch, stated Jason Gaskill, an H-53 airframe manufacturing assist engineer with the Upkeep, Restore and Overhaul Engineering Manufacturing Line Assist Division at FRCE. Spar fittings that can’t meet the required tolerances should be faraway from stock and changed with new fittings, that are both bought from industrial producers or produced by FRCE’s machine store.
These tight tolerances require an unbelievable stage of precision work from the machinists who mix the surfaces of the reworked becoming; the intense pink dye left behind following a match examine utilizing the pressure-sensitive movie offers the machinists a visible indication of precisely the place they should grind. It really works in a lot the identical means as dentists use articulating paper, also called chew paper, to establish the place tooth contact throughout biting and grinding, he stated.
“Many of those fittings have undergone years of upkeep, from eradicating superficial corrosion with a scouring pad to machinists grinding and mixing to take away minor corrosion,” Gaskill defined. “If it’s not a brand new becoming straight from the producer, any individual has eliminated minor corrosion sooner or later. And if you’re speaking measurements of a thousandth of an inch, the machinists don’t have a approach to choose precisely which areas of the becoming they’re eradicating materials from, or whether or not they’ve eliminated the very same quantity of fabric from one of many surfaces in comparison with the opposite one.”
As a result of the human eye isn’t capable of measure increments that small, Gaskill stated, the staff sought to develop a course of to let the machinists know precisely what sort of labor must be completed to the stabilizer facet of the becoming.
“Now we can provide them a visible illustration of what areas require mixing and the way a lot must be taken off,” Gaskill stated. “We needed to place in place , stable course of so we all know that what the store is placing out is an efficient product with out 100% alternative of those fittings.”
The method for utilizing pressure-sensitive movie to confirm contact on the stabilizer facet fittings, for each main and trailing faces, has been rigorously examined by engineers at FRCE and written as a short lived engineering instruction, which suggests it’s now authorized to be used throughout the H-53 Plane Parts Store.
Saving the reworked fittings which can be introduced into tolerance has a number of advantages, Gaskill famous. It saves taxpayer {dollars} by avoiding the price of a brand new becoming and reduces turnaround time for the H-53 plane in work on the depot’s H-53 manufacturing line.
Amy White, an plane examiner on the depot’s H-53 line, stated the price of changing the spar fittings may run as excessive as $150,000.
“Earlier than, if the gaps have been unhealthy, we simply needed to exchange them,” White defined. “Now we’re capable of save a lot of them, between what the machinists are doing by sanding down the pink, taking one other impression and seeing the place we’re, possibly sanding some extra.
“As soon as we get to that 80% contact, we’re good to go and we’ve saved these fittings,” she continued. “And we spent labor hours engaged on it, as an alternative of $150,000 in supplies plus the labor value of changing the fittings throughout the elements.”
Paul Guthrie, sheet metallic work chief within the H-53 Plane Parts Store, stated the brand new course of additionally helps an enchancment in personnel utilization.
“As a substitute of getting to vary out that becoming, we will spend a number of hours checking the spar becoming and sanding it down in hopes of saving it,” Guthrie stated. “We are able to do three to 4 impressions with the pressure-sensitive movie as the method goes alongside and, if by that time, the match examine hasn’t reached 80% contact or at the least proven vital enchancment, that’s when a call is made. If we don’t see a significant enchancment or it’s too far out of tolerance or specification, then we now have to get a brand new becoming.”
This verification of flush mating surfaces on the spar fittings’ mount ft additionally helps scale back total turnaround occasions for H-53 plane upkeep at FRCE, Guthrie stated.
An out-of-tolerance spar becoming results in fitment points when it’s time for the H-53 manufacturing line to attach the stabilizer to the helicopter’s tail pylon, which in flip slows down manufacturing on the plane line because the becoming must be reworked or discarded and a brand new one procured or produced, Gaskill famous.
“That’s why I actually needed a course of that might handle this within the again store,” he stated. “As a result of if we don’t handle it in our store, then when the H-53 line is able to set up the stabilizer and it doesn’t set up correctly, that holds up their work. It’s a tough cease.
“I really feel actually good about this course of,” Gaskill continued. “It offers the elements store the power to say they know the stabilizer facet of the becoming will not be the issue, and so they have the technical knowledge to again that up. And it permits us, as engineers, to know we have to look elsewhere to deal with the problem. One of many issues we love to do as engineers is eradicate issues that aren’t the issue so we will give attention to what it may very well be, relatively than each potential chance.”
Gaskill stated the staff developed the preliminary concept for the method after discussing the spar becoming fitment points with a senior engineer, who talked about that the depot’s composite store used the pressure-sensitive movie to examine for gaps between the composite layers of bonded tee caps, one other becoming discovered on the H-53. Whereas the spar fittings contain metal-to-metal contact relatively than composite supplies, Gaskill thought the identical idea may work.
“I used to be attempting to consider a approach to get the entire excessive spots on the fittings sanded at one time and, with this, we didn’t must reinvent the wheel. We’ve received a supply of provide for the movie. We had the plate from one other course of, though we are actually engaged on getting a plate only for this particular use. We began with some trial runs and it seems that this simply works actually, very well.”
MRO Engineering Division Head Thomas Osiecki stated the event of this course of offers a superb instance of how cooperation between MRO Engineering and the depot’s manufacturing components results in enhancements that profit each the FRCE workforce and the nation’s navy aviators.
“It’s thrilling to see the success that Jason and the FRC East staff have skilled in establishing this methodology of figuring out and correcting gaps on H-53 spar fittings, and the constructive influence it’s having on value and turnaround time for H-53 upkeep,” Osiecki stated. “This is only one instance of what our FRC East MRO Engineering Division staff members do day by day – they assist the Fleet by serving to enhance upkeep outcomes in our part retailers and plane strains. The FRC East teamwork on show with this effort helps pace supply of elements and plane again to our warfighters.”
Trying ahead, Guthrie stated he hopes different entities throughout the depot and past would possibly be capable to have a look at what the H-53 Plane Parts Store has completed with the pressure-sensitive movie and discover makes use of for it inside their very own areas, as effectively.
“This movie is a reasonably available industrial product, it’s pretty simple to make use of and is giving us nice outcomes,” he stated. “There could also be somebody on the market within the facility and even within the Fleet that can say, Hey, we may try this too – identical to our engineers picked up the concept from composites,” he stated. “And if another person has this identical sort of downside, they might simply do that course of and see if it really works.”
In truth, the H-53 Parts Store is now conducting trials of the method on the tail pylon spar fittings, and hope to see an authorized short-term engineering instruction launched within the close to future.
“In fact, these fittings have by no means been checked this manner, both,” White stated. “And that’s necessary, as a result of we will convey all these stabilizer fittings into tolerance however, if the fittings on the tail pylon are out of tolerance, it’s not going to matter what we’re doing to the stabilizer facet. Utilizing this course of on the tail pylon facet is one other approach to save time and value for each FRCE and our clients within the Fleet.”
For Gaskill, the perfect a part of this course of improvement is figuring out the artisans within the elements store are turning out the very best doable high quality product for the H-53 line and clients within the Fleet.
“Once we end that horizontal stabilizer, we all know that it’s good to go for mounting to a tail pylon,” he stated. “And I simply can’t reward the artisans sufficient. They took a course of that they’ve by no means completed earlier than, and now they’re capable of get these completed so effectively. They’re doing such an important job, and this course of wouldn’t be the place it’s with out them.”
