Maintaining aircraft availability

  • Published
  • By Air Force Senior Airman Abby L. Finkel
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  Dedicated 48th Maintenance Group Airmen across many career fields work hard to keep Liberty Wing F-15s in top working order.

Sometimes these maintainers come across issues that are beyond the scope of what they can feasibly fix. When this level of repair is needed, the aircraft is sent to another location in the United States. However, thanks to the depot-level maintenance shop at RAF Lakenheath, contractors are making more challenging repairs.

These contractors are capable of completing repairs and modifications on base, keeping the aircraft at home station and saving the Air Force both time and money.

“Having this capability on station prevents an unscheduled loss in aircraft availability,” said the 48th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron lead production superintendent. “Having to wait for a team to be sent out or having to return an aircraft stateside for repairs only takes away from the wing’s available aircraft.”

The availability of having contractors on base means that when Liberty Wing maintainers find the problems they need extra help to solve, the solution isn’t far away.

"If [maintainers] go out to an aircraft and say they find a crack in the wing,” said Ricardo Ball, 48th Maintenance Operations Squadron team lead supervisor, “what they would do is call us to assess the damage and give our opinion based on experience on what is needed to repair the airframe."

If it is something RAF Lakenheath contractors can fix, paperwork detailing the proposed repair is submitted to engineers at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, for review and approval. The engineers will either approve the proposed plan, or they will send different repair recommendations.

Quicker returns on aircraft repairs allows the Liberty Wing to maintain a full contingent of mission-ready F-15s, ready to provide worldwide responsive combat airpower and protect the sovereign skies of Europe.

This article does not constitute endorsement.