‘NICK’ OF TIME Boeing repair kit offers a quick fix to routine scrapes and dings on composite airplanes By Eric Fetters-Walp and photos by Bob Ferguson Just like cars, new airplanes occasionally receive dents and scratches, especially so-called “ramp rash”—minor dings that come mainly from maintenance and airline service trucks at airports. A lightning strike or a hit by a tool also can create nicks and scratches on an airplane, potentially costing an airline hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue while the airplane undergoes repairs. So it’s critical for airlines to be able to repair these quickly. But what about quick repairs to an airplane with a composite skin? Early on in the 787 development program, potential customers had many questions about the composite skin of the Dreamliner and how routine ramp rash would be addressed. No worries. Boeing engineers found a way to patch a scratch—at least temporarily—within about an hour. The quick composite repair kit they developed has already proved itself, saving time and money for airlines that fly the Dreamliner. “For our airline customers, an airplane out of service for any reason, including damage repair, significantly impacts their operations and customers,” said Mike Fleming, vice president of Services and Support for the 787 program. “Being able to minimize or eliminate this out-of-service time creates value for our customers and for The Boeing Company.” As of the end of January, more than 115 Dreamliners had been delivered to 16 customers worldwide, and were averaging more than 200 revenue flights per day. More than 10 million passengers have flown more than 90 million miles (145 million kilometers) on the 787 since passenger service began in October 2011. Any commercial jetliner is taken out of service when serious incidents damage the fuselage skin and require repairs before they can be dispatched. But aviation regulators require that even a small, nonpuncturing scratch or dent often needs to be repaired so it won’t turn into a more serious flaw in the airplane’s structure. Such a repair traditionally takes an airplane out of service for days. And while the 787’s composite skin is stronger than the average aluminum airplane skin and is expected to require less long-term periodic maintenance, it’s not immune to ramp rash or other mishaps. That’s why engineers from Commercial Airplanes’ Commercial Aviation Services and Boeing Research & Technology, a division of Engineering, Technology & Operations, partnered for years to develop a quick way to repair composite materials to provide an advanced fix for the Dreamliner. Previously, the most common way to fix composite skin damage involved moving the aircraft to a maintenance hangar and using sophisticated cure controllers and heater mats to cure epoxy resins and adhesives in place. The quick repair kit allows minor damage 18 Frontiers February 2014
Frontiers February 2014 Issue
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