Cutlines:

Larry Sandstede, front, and Patrick Orcales, both Code 6.2.A, mask and glue an AH-1W Cobra for plastic media blast at the Paint Facility. Photo by Bill Bartkus

Eduardo Johnson, Code 6.2.A, is not at a manned space station but at the Paint Facility performing corrosion control, which is another critical step in the plastic media blast process. Photo by Bill Bartkus

Aircraft are these painters’ easels

By Bill Bartkus
NADEP North Island

If it moves, salute it; if it doesn’t, paint it! This is an old Navy adage that goes back many years.

Artisans in the Paint Facility, Code 6.2.A, at Naval Air Depot North Island don’t salute, but they paint and they’re good at their profession. Their job is just as critical to supporting the warfighter as other artisans and engineers who work with the NADEP.

Oh, their job may be a bit messy, but what they do is vital to NAVAIR’s and NADEP North Island’s mission. They also play a key role in keeping overall turnaround time to an absolute minimum.

There are four programs within the facility, according to Tom Sapien, Code 6.2.A.1.0.5. These programs include Plastic Media and Components Strip, Aircraft Paint and Component Paint, Special Projects, and Aircraft Final Finish Production. PMB is the first step in the paint process.

“The PMB Shop is where we induct aircraft into the Paint Facility for corrosion control, and we work on a variety of aircraft here,” said Sapien, “We work on SH-60 helicopters, Huey Cobras, F/A-18s, S-3s, E-2s, C-2s.” Sapien said that since the S-3 Standard Depot Level Maintenance ended in September, the Paint Facility still works on those aircraft under the Integrated Maintenance Concept. “So, we’re still in the S-3 business,” said Sapien.

The aircraft are first “masked” for the PMB process. “We mask the aircraft to prevent intrusion of media. This means we seal or ‘mask’ all openings with impact tape and use a hot glue gun to seal the tape,” said Sapien.

Next comes “blasting” the aircraft. “In this phase, we use plastic media to remove the paint from the aircraft surface. This allows us to generate less hazardous waste (as opposed to using toxic chemical strippers),” Sapien said. “The plastic media is also recyclable.” And to ensure that what they do here is safe for the environment, Sapien said that the Paint Facility employs a full-time hazardous waste specialist because he believes that the Paint Facility is the largest generator of hazardous waste on the base.

“Although the plastic media is recyclable, it’s stored here and then recycled in Arizona and used in various products. So the next time you’re sitting on a lawn chair, in a manner of speaking, it went through the Paint Facility.”

During the corrosion control phase of PMB, artisans remove all corrosion from the aircraft’s metal surfaces. “This prolongs the life of the aircraft by insuring that the integrity of the metal is preserved and corrosion is arrested (stopped) before any damage is done to the metal,” said Sapien.

The last step of the PMB process is temporary coat and prime phase during which artisans apply a clear coating or primer to the metal to preserve it before the aircraft goes to the next phase of maintenance. When NADEP North Island artisans finish with the maintenance portion of the aircraft, it’s delivered back to the Paint Facility for the final paint finish before heading to the Test Line.

The PMB process, from start to finish, varies by aircraft Sapien noted. “An F/A-18 can take anywhere from four to six days. The S-3 Viking can take a little longer because it’s a larger aircraft as are the E-2 and the C-2,” he said. “We do a little more work on Hawkeyes and Greyhounds because we also work on the interior on these aircraft, clean them and get them ready for the mechanic. We clean the bilge area and the aircraft compartments.”

Sapien has 23 artisans in his shop, and they can work on three aircraft at a time in various stages.