For years, structural maintainers have emerged as artisans of sorts, creating parts by hand, meticulously shaping them from custom wood forms and delicate hand-tool work.
They gently tap away with a small hammer, slowly giving shape to a sheet of aircraft-grade aluminum so it will slide into the tight confines of an F-15 Eagle fuselage with an expected tolerance of .005 of an inch.
This is necessary because of the thousands upon thousands of parts that make up an F-15C, many of them don't exist in the supply system any longer—they haven't for decades.
"It's a 50-50 shot when you need a part, that it's out there," said Master Sgt. Paul Allen, 173rd Fighter Wing structural maintenance technician.
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