According to one technician at Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Georgia who repairs canopies and windscreens for F-15 fighters, the work is “more an art than a science.” In a report by Gene Rector of The Telegraph, Bridgette Wilderman said rocks, sand, debris, sun, humidity, a mechanic’s belt buckle, and a pilot’s helmet all can damage the canopy and windscreen—and they’re expensive to replace, so the ALC has trained technicians in the “tedious work” of sanding and polishing the acrylic cockpit enclosure. Wilderman noted that the windscreen work requires “an even finer touch” since its a prominent element of the pilot’s heads-up display. She said technicians might work on canopies for two years before “they even think about working windscreens.”
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach told lawmakers Apr. 30 that the service’s biggest airlifter, the C-5 Galaxy, has a 37 percent mission capable rate—one of several challenges facing the mobility fleet.