Photo By Senior Airman Michael Killian | U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Anthony MartinezMartinez, an aircraft structural...... read more read more
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MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – Members of the 6th Air Refueling Wing assigned to MacDill Air Force Base visited Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, to collaborate with STEALTHWERX and the 509th Bomb Wing on groundbreaking aircraft innovations June 29.
The meetup was held to discuss new gadgets made to streamline the maintenance process of the B-1 Lancer, B-2 Spirit, and KC-135 Stratotanker, and to exchange ideas on how to better improve each other’s workflow.
The new nut plates, mechanically locking fasteners, and V-band clamps are the handy work of Enduralock, a fastener supplier in Lenexa, Kansas, and are part of a $2.5 million contract between STEALTHWERX and The Bolt Cell Small Business Innovation Research.
A mechanic can typically safely wire 10 fasteners per hour. In that same hour, over 300 Enduralock fasteners could be installed.
U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jamal Browne, an aircraft structural maintenance craftsman assigned to the 6th Maintenance Squadron, believes the new innovations will save the 6th MXS tons of man hours by breaking down less easily, and being faster and less labor intensive to move and replace.
“It could take a crew chief anywhere between 20 and 40 minutes to remove the current panels,” Browne said. “With the nut plate, we’re looking at a removal time of 10 minutes, which saves the crew chiefs a lot of heartache.”
U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Taylor Johnston, an innovation officer assigned to the 6th ARW, was one of the main coordinators of this conference.
“Air Mobility Command and Global Strike Command very rarely work together, but we were able to take one brilliant idea from a small company, and implement it to help both of our wings out,” said Johnston. “Using available resources to make real and lasting impact is what MacDill does. In the last six months, we’ve gone from one innovation program on base to 10, and we’ve seen over half a million dollars of input since August of last year.”
Johnston said the main priorities for innovation are creating partnerships with small businesses and local talent, as well as solving problems or solutions with either money, tech, or processes.
This project’s goal was to improve the process of both MacDill and Whiteman airmen, and help foster an environment of forward thinkers who continuously innovate at all levels in order to meet the challenges of an unpredictable tomorrow.
| Date Taken: | 07.05.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 07.05.2022 16:55 |
| Story ID: | 424367 |
| Location: | TAMPA, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 287 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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