When a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) aircraft sustained front-end damage at St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands in September 2010, Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRCSE) quickly repaired and returned a badly dented radar dome (Radome) used for gathering data and conducting weather research.
The WP-3D Orion, one of NOAA's two premiere research aircraft then tasked with conducting flights into a tropical disturbance, was undergoing a 50-hour inspection when the non-injury mishap occurred at the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport.
During the maintenance inspection when the hydraulic system was depressurized and the brakes were inoperable, the turboprop aircraft known as “Miss Piggy” jumped the nose chocks causing it to roll down a steep ramp, hitting a building and crushing the nose Radome.
The nose Radome is the leading structure on the aircraft. The removable dome-shaped fiberglass covering protects the radar and space communications antennae from wind, water, ice and ultraviolet ray damage and is transparent to radio frequency signals.
Aircraft mechanics shipped the wrecked Radome to the NOAA Aircraft Operations Center (AOC) at MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa, Fla. From there the part traveled by truck in January to FRCSE on Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Fla.
In the interim, NOAA installed a spare Radome to ensure the aircraft remained mission ready, while the damaged dome underwent repairs.
FRCSE Plastics Worker Jerry W. Lackey, assisted by Plastics Helper Derek Mosley, performed the largest depot-level Radome repair ever conducted at the facility.
“Our manuals provide no guidance for larger depot-level repairs, he said, "but there was no lack of confidence that it could be done.”
Lackey said the fiberglass/phenolic honeycomb core is sandwiched between three layers of exterior and interior fiberglass, a glass-fiber-reinforced resin product. He said the biggest challenge was maintaining the shape of the dome during the repair.
“We don't have the tooling to secure the part,” he said. “I had to repair it from the inside out. I cut out the exterior damage and the honeycomb. I popped the internal layer out to get the contour. I replaced the honeycomb and did a wet layout process, a three-layer buildup with resin between each layer. Finally I cut out the interior layer and rebuilt it.”
Normally FRCSE artisans would replace a Radome damaged to this a degree with one from the Navy's supply center.
“It is considered a universal part,” said Lackey, “but we know they don't always fit. This aircraft is 40 years old. Sometimes it takes longer to modify the replacement part than it does to repair the damage on the original.”
Repairs directly affect the radar's efficiency and resolution, which depends on a distortion-free antenna view through the highly instrumented Radome. It takes a highly skilled artisan to repair a Radome properly.
Lackey started as an electroplater helper 10 years ago. He landed a job as an entry-level plastics worker two years later, which he credits to his experience rebuilding fiberglass car bodies in high school. With his next promotion, he performed all plastics and fiberglass repair skills. Lackey cross-trained three years ago in composite materials, such as carbon fiber and Kevlar, to tackle more in-depth repairs.
“I learned it all right here at FRCSE,” he said.
FRCSE painters primed and applied paint to the component. Artisans took four months to repair and return the Radome to the AOC in Tampa.
AOC Chief of Safety, Training and Standardization Officer, Cmdr. Mark Nelson, thanked the FRCSE artisans for their “hard work and unparalleled skills” in support of NOAA's mission.
“Once again the artisans of FRCSE have taken what appeared to be a total loss of a Radome and reconstructed it to better than new,” said Nelson.
In addition to their hurricane research and reconnaissance missions, the two airborne meteorological platforms “participate in a wide variety of national and international meteorological, oceanographic and environmental research programs” according to NOAA's website.
