By Judy Alexander, Public Affairs Specialist

Members of the Navy League Jacksonville Council and senior business leaders from the local Jacksonville community visited Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRCSE) Thursday, May 14. FRCSE Commanding Officer, Capt. Tim Matthews, briefed the group on the history of the facility and how the work accomplished here supports the Warfighter.

The group toured the F/A-18 Center Barrel Replacement (CBR+) line where they saw first hand the intensive maintenance service performed on the F/A-18. The CBR+ modification is the major structural modification that disassembles the aircraft for the removal and replacement of the main load-bearing structure. The wings attach to the aircraft at the top of the center barrel section and the landing gear attach to the aircraft at the bottom of the center barrel. Thus every time the aircraft lands the center barrel section is stressed. The replacement of the center barrel extends the service life of the aircraft as much as 70 percent and provides an economical alternative to procuring entirely new airframes.

Also included on the tour was the manufacturing facility at FRCSE. The manufacturing teams at FRCSE are responsible for fabricating, repairing, and refurbishing components, detail parts, and sheet metal parts for the F/A-18 A-D Hornet, the SH-60 Seahawk, the P-3 Orion, and the EA-6B Prowler. Many of these parts are unavailable from vendors or the supply system. FRCSE employs highly-skilled artisans who use precision equipment for machining and fabricating components to maintain the strict dimensional tolerances required for aerospace components. These artisans are masters of their respective trades, with decades of practical experience, training, and expertise.

The group ended the tour with a walk past the P-3 Hangar where Capt. Matthews explained the importance of the P-3 Red-stripe repairs. The term “Red-stripe” comes from the diagonal red stripe on the Airworthiness Bulletin that grounded 39 P-3C aircraft in December 2007 for structural fatigue concerns on a portion of the lower outer wing, called Zone 5. The P-3 groundings were not the result of an aircraft incident, rather the result of ongoing analysis obtained through monitoring the fatigue status, flight hour usage, and operational profiles on aircraft.

The Navy League is a civilian organization of more than 60,000 members dedicated to keeping the American people and government officials informed about America’s national security requirements, and their relationship to our economic prosperity.

Caption 1:
Lt. Cmdr. Nate Marler, F/A-18 Product Office, explains the importance of kit boxes during the Navy League tour. Over 5,000 individual items are removed from the F/A-18 during the center barrel replacement processes. Many of these items are placed in shadowed kit boxes and stored until needed later in the production process. Other items are routed to various production shops for evaluation, testing, and repair as needed. Using the shadowed kit boxes reduces the potential of damage while the item is stored. (Photo by Victor Pitts)

Caption 2:
Machinist Rickey Doucette (right) explains the production process for the manufacture of the F/A-18 engine mounts and other parts critical to the repair of aircraft. F/A-18 engineers regularly inspect various parts of the aircraft for wear and tear. Inspections of the left inboard engine mount revealed out of tolerance wear and gouging. When parts were not available in the supply system, the FRCSE Manufacturing Division produced titanium engine mounts in a record six weeks. (Photo by Victor Pitts)

– USN –