Reusable Wash Covers for F-35 Flight Critical Areas

Routine maintenance for the F-35 Lightning requires aircraft washes every 30 days. To prevent damage to aircraft, maintainers are required to cover all flight critical areas (pitot tubes, flush ports, panel seams, etc.) with single use tape and barrier paper. Thorough  inspections are then required after each wash to ensure all tape has been completely removed from the aircraft. Aircraft which are released with tape still attached risk improper sensor readings and may result in a complete aircraft loss and pilot fatality if sensors cannot provide accurate data during flight. Kennon and Eglin AFB are proposing a set of reusable, fully sealed wash covers for each wash sensitive area on the aircraft. By removing the need to tape each port, the proposed shipset can reduce maintainer prep time by an estimated 75% per aircraft and removal time by approximately 80%. Kennon has designed a low profile magnetic attachment mechanism currently in use on F-22 which can secure and seal the proposed covers to the aircraft without damaging LO coatings, contains no moving parts, and requires no modifications to the aircraft. With minor modification, this array can precisely target ferrous targets within the aircraft without interfering with aircraft systems.