Vietnam -- Aircraft Structural Repairer

 

• Enlisted
• Officer

• Active Duty
• Army Reserve

Hundreds of Army missions depend on aircraft for transport, patrol and flight training. It's up to the members of the aircraft repair team to ensure that all Army aircraft remain safe and ready to fly. As an integral member of this team, the Aircraft Structural Repairer inspects, services and repairs Army helicopters and airplanes.

The Aircraft Structural Repairer is primarily responsible for supervising and performing maintenance on aircraft structures. Some of your duties as an Aircraft Structural Repairer may include:

• Repair and replace aircraft structural components to include stingers, longerons, bulkheads, beams and aircraft skin according to drawings, blueprints, directives, technical manuals and safety procedures
• Fabricate structural parts, forming blocks, and shapes metal using stretching, shrinking, and other metal forming techniques
• Mix and apply fiberglass materials
• Make emergency and permanent repairs to transparent plastic windows and enclosures
• Use common measuring tools, precision measuring gages, and alignment fixtures to perform structural repairs
• Balance fixed-wing aircraft controls such as flags and ailerons
• Mix and apply primers and paints to aircraft surfaces
• Apply corrosion control treatment to aircraft metals
• Requisition and maintain shop and bench stock for repair of aircraft structures
• Maintain facilities for storage of flammable and hazardous materials
• Use and perform operator maintenance on common and special tools
• Prepare forms and records related to aircraft maintenance

• Training
• Helpful Skills
• Advanced Responsibilities
• Related Civilian Jobs
• Related Army Positions
• Civilian Certifications Earned

Training

Job training for an Aircraft Structural Repairer requires nine weeks of Basic Training, where you'll learn basic Soldiering skills, and 15 weeks of Advanced Individual Training and on-the-job instruction, including inspection and repair of aircraft engines and equipment. Part of this time is spent in the classroom and part in the field. Some of the skills you'll learn are:

• Engine disassembly and repair
• Repair of hydraulic, fuel and electrical systems
• Repair of aluminum, steel and fiberglass airframes and coverings

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Helpful Skills

Helpful attributes include:

• An interest in mathematics and shop mechanics
• An interest in work involving aircraft
• An interest in engine mechanics
• An ability to use hand and power tools

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Advanced Responsibilities

Advanced level Aircraft Structural Repairers provides guidance, supervises and trains other Soldiers within the same discipline.
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Related Civilian Jobs

The skills you learn as an Aircraft Structural Repairer will help prepare you for a future with aircraft manufacturers, commercial airlines and government agencies as an airframe or power plant mechanic.