9th MXS fabrication flight: Bending and molding airframes for global ISR Published April 14, 2015 By Airman 1st Class Ramon A. Adelan 9th Reconnaissance Wing Public Affairs BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- When there is a cracked panel, damaged wing, or other repairs to intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance airframes; the 9th Maintenance Squadron fabrication flight assess potential risks that could hinder the safety of Team Beale. The 9th Reconnaissance Wing high operations tempo demands Airmen to retain the structural integrity of the nation's fleet of the U-2 Dragon Lady and RQ-4 Global Hawk, to continue providing national and theater command authorities with timely, reliable, and high-quality high-altitude reconnaissance products. The fabrication flight has a two-part mission in maintaining these ISR platforms, aircraft structural maintenance and nondestructive inspection. Both sections work together to ensure aircraft meet specifications for flight. "Each section has a part in mission success," said Senior Airman Jeffery M. Frischman, 9th MXS fabrication flight aircraft structural technician. "We work cohesively together, supporting each other and supporting the ISR mission to keep jets in the sky and produce quality work." Structural maintenance provides repairs, designs, modifications and fabricates aircraft using metal, plastic, composites, advanced composites and resins. They assemble structural parts and components to meet standards for preserving structural integrity. "Aircraft repairs can impede the 24/7 ISR mission here," said Master Sgt. Bandele Howes, 9th AMX fabrication flight aircraft structural maintenance section chief. "Sometimes repairs can take 30 minutes or 30 hours. It may not be as easy as swapping out a part. Sometimes we may have to create a product from scratch by fabricating composites or bending metal." According to Howes, the two airframes here are made of different materials and can challenge fabrication Airmen to use the all their techniques and education to produce a quality product. The U-2 Dragon Lady is metal and fiber glass, and the RQ-4 Global Hawk is composite materials. The final process before any aircraft repairs are cleared for operations is the nondestructive inspection section or NDI who prepares parts for inspection. NDI interprets and evaluates indications on aircraft and support equipment using magnetic particle, ultrasonic, eddy current, radiographic, liquid penetrant and other emerging technologies. "We make sure the products leaving structural maintenance are capable of performing through the long flight time and high altitude," said Staff Sgt. Jamal Palmer, 9th MXS NDI craftsman. "Our main goal is maintaining strenuous operations, providing our Airmen with quality craftsmanship to safely conduct the mission."