JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Troy Linton tightens a screw on the outer shell of an F/A-18 Hornet wing at Fleet Readiness Center Southeast June 4. Linton is a sheet metal mechanic from Denver, Colo. (U.S. Navy Photo/Released) JACKSONVILLE, Fla. When the U.S. military decided to extend the lifespan of the F/A-18 Hornet an additional 2,000 to 4,000 flight hours, it had an immediate effect on the employees of Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRCSE). Pushing the aircraft beyond the original 6,000 flight hours requires an increased level of maintenance and repair on many of the aircraft s components. One of the most important components, its wings, requires extensive inspections and repair before it is ready to push past that original limit. Very few of the 3,500 employees working at FRCSE perform this unique type of repair, making them equally as important to FRCSE as the wings are to the jet itself. In anticipation of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, we are pushing the Hornets up to 10,000 flight hours, said Randy Parker, FRCSE Wing Shop Program Manager. Extending the aircraft beyond the original lifespan means we are crossing into the unknown. We don t know what to expect when we get a new wing in for repair. Page 1 of 8
When each wing is brought in for rework, it is disassembled and inspected for damage. Usual repair could be anything from minor corrosion to spar replacement. Normal throughput time for each wing panel is 2,200 hours. We have both civil service and contractors working in our shop, said Parker. All our employees are extremely good at what they do and they all work really hard at putting out a high-quality product as fast as possible. Fifty-two percent of the Navy and Marine Corps F/A-18s are currently in a non-reporting state, meaning they are in need of repair and are not being used by the fleet. Therefore, FRCs have shifted into overdrive trying to get these aircraft repaired and back to the squadrons as fast as possible. FRCSE plans to expand the workforce in the Wing Shop to about 30 employees in the near future in preparation for increased production next fiscal year, according to Parker. Next year, we will be working almost twice as many aircraft as we are now, he said. That means we will be working somewhere around 140 inner and outer wing panels we re going to need more help. Hiring new personnel will allow us to operate two full shifts to meet that goal. FRCSE Artisan Phillip Hinton has 14 years experience working in the Wing Shop. He said he loves his job and is ready for the increased workload; he also looks forward to having more employees around. I love what I do, said Hinton. I grew up watching F/A-18s fly around, and now I m the one keeping them in the air. It s really cool to tell people that I work on Hornets every day. Page 2 of 8
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Heidi Shepherd repairs an F/A-18 Hornet wing at Fleet Readiness Center Southeast June 4. Shepard is a sheet metal mechanic and a native of Green Cove Springs, Fla. (U.S. Navy Photo/Released) JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Joseph Elliott (foreground) and Phillip Hinton install a spar on an outer wing panel at Fleet Readiness Center Southeast June 4. Elliott and Hinton are sheet metal mechanics with the Wing Shop. (U.S. Navy Photo/Released) JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Joseph Elliott installs a spar on an outer wing panel at Fleet Readiness Center Southeast June 4. Elliott is a sheet metal mechanic with the Wing Shop. (U.S. Navy Photo/Released) Page 3 of 8
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Anthony Christian repairs an F/A-18 Hornet wing panel at Fleet Readiness Center Southeast June 4. Christian is an aircraft mechanic with the Wing Shop and a native of Trinidad. (U.S. Navy Photo/Released) JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Morrell Morgan reinstalls a panel on an F/A-18 Hornet wing at Fleet Readiness Center Southeast June 4. Morgan is an aircraft mechanic from Macon, Ga. (U.S. Navy Photo/Released) Page 4 of 8
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRCSE) Artisan Anthony Christian (left) troubleshoots a repair on an F/A-18 wing panel with Paul Capers (right) and Morrell Morgan at FRCSE June 4. Capers is the Wing Shop supervisor and Morgan is a sheet metal mechanic. (U.S. Navy Photo/Released) JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Roderick Rawls checks a work order for an F/A-18 Hornet wing repair at Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRCSE) June 4. Rawls is an aircraft mechanic at FRCSE and a Stone Mountain, Ga. native. (U.S. Navy Photo/Released) Page 5 of 8
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Guy Bottoms disassembles an F/A-18 wing panel at Fleet Readiness Center Southeast June 4. Bottoms is a sheet metal mechanic and native of Tuscaloosa, Ala. (U.S. Navy Photo/Released) JACKSONVILLE, Fla. John Farrell reassembles an F/A-18 Hornet wing panel at Fleet Readiness Center Southeast June 4. Farrell is a sheet metal mechanic from Lake Charles, La. (U.S. Navy Photo/Released) Page 6 of 8
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Mark Fontaine reassembles an F/A-18 Hornet wing panel at Fleet Readiness Center Southeast June 4. Fontaine is a sheet metal mechanic and a native of St. Paul, Minn. (U.S. Navy Photo/Released) JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Alan Schaefer gathers tools at Fleet Readiness Center Southeast June 4. Schaefer is a sheet metal mechanic and a native of Houston. (U.S. Navy Photo/Released) Page 7 of 8
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Steve Phillips disassembles an F/A-18 Hornet s outer wing panel at Fleet Readiness Center Southeast June 4. Phillips is a sheet metal mechanic and a native of Jacksonville, Fla. (U.S. Navy Photo/Released) JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Narom Orr uses a grinder to prepare an aircraft component for reassembly at Fleet Readiness Center Southeast June 8. Orr is machinist with FRCSE. (U.S. Navy Photo/Released) Page 8 of 8