REPAIRING COMPOSITE AIRCRAFT STRUCTURES - RAF EXPERIENCE OF PEACETIMEAND BATTLE DAMAGE TECHNIQUES

The RAF has been undertaking peacetime repairs on composite rotor blad es, fibreglass radomes and panels on a variety of combat aircraft type s for many years. However, the Service's main experience in the repair of aircraft structures manufactured from carbon fibre composite (CFC) material has been related to the Harrier II. In any future conflict i nvolving air power, battle damaged aircraft, including the Harrier II, will have to be repaired rapidly to meet operational requirements. Th e repair techniques used may have to differ from those undertaken in p eacetime but they must still aim to restore the full static strength o f the aircraft within the time constraints imposed by the operational situation. Therefore, aircraft battle damage repair (ABDR) is a carefu lly planned alternative to conventional repair techniques. This paper describes the main CFC structures of the Harrier II and outlines the v ariety of RAF peace and wartime structural repair procedures applied t o the aircraft. Examples are provided of various simple and complex re pairs. Greater emphasis on adhesively bonded repairs is called for if Harrier II experience is to aid in the logistic support of Eurofighter 2000 (EF2000) in peace and war.