REFRESHER TRAINING ON THE BELL212/412 JIG FIXTURE
The Aircraft Repair and Salvage Section (AR&SS) of the Aircraft Engineering Wing (AEW), SLAF Base, Katunayake, recently concluded their first ever refresher training on the Bell212/412 Jig Fixture for its qualified Structural Repair Technicians. The refresher training involved the installation and alignment of a Bell 212 Fuselage in the jig fixture.
The Bell 212/412 Jig Fixture, certified by M/S Bell Helicopter Ltd for use with UH1H helicopter fuselages, is a valuable asset available in the inventory of the Sri Lanka Air Force, and is one of a very few in all of Asia. It, along with the tail boom jig fixture also available at the AEW, can be used for complete rebuilding of fuselages and tail booms of the Bell 212 and 412 Aircraft available in the SLAF. It can also be used for checking the alignments, rectifications and partial rebuilds of helicopter structures and has been used extensively in the past to keep the SLAF Bell fleet serviceable.
Mr. David Gilroy, representative of M/S Helicopter Welders of the Canada was employed by the Air Force to fabricate the Jig and subsequently to rebuild a number of fuselages that had made hard landings and overstress conditions as well as those with chronic in flight vibration problems that were identified to be a result of structural misalignment.
The Jig fixture has to be certified by M/S Bell helicopter periodically, and was last certified in 02 August 2018. The certification is valid until 31 December 2025.
Group Captain MADCI Gunasinghe, OC AR&SS handled the refresher training in which a total of 15 technicians participated. The technicians will be issued with special competency certificates from the Air Force.
.jpg)
