Mon, Jun 01, 2009
Damaged B-1 Returned To Service
A USAF B-1B bomber returned to flight last week after a Boeing
team replaced its catastrophically damaged upper-center boron
longeron – the aircraft's "backbone." The B-1, Swift Justice,
was damaged during a routine training mission in December 2007. An
engine-bleed air duct rupture triggered a temperature warning
light, forcing the crew to land the aircraft at Ellsworth Air Force
Base, S.D.
Replacing the upper-center boron longeron, which is essential
for stability in flight, is not a simple task because the part is
unique to each aircraft, with no spares available.
“The boron backbone of the B-1 is an aggressive composite
design, even by today’s standards,” said Mahesh Reddy,
B-1 program director for Boeing Global Services & Support.
“In order to perform the repair, we worked with the Air Force
and industry partners to remanufacture the entire part.”
Boeing Integrated Defense Systems and Boeing Commercial
Airplanes employees from sites across the company worked together
with the Air Force and material vendors to re-create the damaged
part. Specialty Materials Inc. in Lowell, Mass., the original
boron/epoxy supplier, provided 14,000 feet of 4-inch-wide
unidirectional tape to fabricate the longeron. Cytec Engineered
Materials Inc., in Tempe, Ariz., supplied the adhesive film and
adhesive primer. Due to the part's complexity and 47.5-foot length,
the Boeing Composite Fabrication & Assembly Center in Seattle
was selected to perform the layup and cure the part in its
90-foot-deep autoclave.
“The return to flight of this B-1 is a perfect example of
how Boeing solves issues by applying skills and capabilities from
across the company, our suppliers and our customer,” said
Reddy.
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