The F-16 mechanics at Ogden Air Logistics Center in Utah no longer have to spend endless hours scraping sealant off fighter wings. Now they have a machine that blasts off the sealant using dry ice pellets, and they say it’s already paid for itself. What used to take four shifts of three to four people to do by hand, now only takes one person over four shifts. The machine cost $27,000, and based on the man-hour savings, it “was almost paid for after the first use,” says Dennis Hathaway, F-16 Wing Shop supervisor.
The first flight of the secretive B-21 bomber has slipped to mid-2022, but the program is moving along well, Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office director Randall Walden said in an exclusive interview. The second copy of the B-21, which will be used for structural testing, is now on the production…