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Foam Machine Gives NAVAIR Depot Unique Capability

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS030303-06
Release Date: 3/2/2003 8:14:00 PM

By Gary Rice, Naval Air Systems Command Public Affairs

CHERRY POINT, N.C. (NNS) -- Sometimes a little goes a long way, and that is certainly the case with the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) Cherry Point's new Foam Pouring Machine. Used in the prop shop to dispense liquid foam into the spars of E-2 Hawkeye and C-2 Greyhound aircraft propeller blades, the machine gives the depot a capability that no one else has, and it saves the government a lot of money.

"It's a low pressure dispensing machine that is setup to shoot about 600 grams of foam into the spar," mechanical engineering technician Chuck Wayman said. "The foam, through controlled expansion, fills the spar cavity to predetermined specifications and restores the characteristics that are fundamental to the blade's design."

The foam machine is a commercially available 'off-the-shelf' item that was modified based on the depot's requirements to handle the viscous liquid that expands to a dense foam.

"With this machine, we are able to repair blades that would otherwise have to be scrapped," said industrial engineering technician William Cohen. "With the extremely short supply of spare blades for the E-2 and C-2 aircraft, our ability to repair these blades will fill all back orders in a short time."

"The Navy needed the blades repaired," Wayman said. "To meet that need, we wanted to establish the capability of doing the repairs here at the depot, but we needed to find the right machine."

NAVAIR Depot Cherry Point provides maintenance, engineering, and logistics support on a variety of aircraft, engines, and components for all branches of the U.S. armed forces. Employing more than 4,000 people, the depot is the only source of repair within the continental United States for many jet and rotary wing engines. It is the Navy's center of excellence for rotary wing aircraft, providing engineering and logistics support for all Navy helicopters.

The Navy's E-2 and C-2 aircraft are in constant use in the fleet, especially since the war on terror began, and they need replacement blades. New blades are expected to be manufactured in the future, but without the depot's efforts, the stock of usable replacement blades would probably be depleted before the new ones are ready. Since its arrival in August, the foam machine has enabled the depot to repair more than 50 blades and return them to the fleet.

"This machine has already paid for itself many times over," Cohen said.

With the advent of this foam technology at the depot, there are plans to further develop the program and manufacture blades from scratch. The program could be on line in a few months and would reduce costs to the fleet even further. It would also enable the depot to put out a superior quality blade.

"Increase quality and decrease costs," Wayman said. "It's just one more way the depot fulfills the fleet's needs."

NAVAIR provides advanced warfare technology through the efforts of a seamless, integrated, worldwide network of aviation technology experts.