Bombs away! <br> Trainer development flight hits target for Tyndall Published Feb. 8, 2011 By 81st Training Support Squadron KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- The 81st Training Support Squadron's trainer development flight has fabricated a full-scale model of a GBU-32 guided bomb unit with its newly acquired fused deposition modeling process. The model consists of an MK-83 bomb combined with a joint directed attack munitions tail section - JDAM for short -- and the associated BRU-46 bomb release unit. Keesler's customer for this project is the 325th Operations Support Squadron at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. It will be used in the F-22 "B" course that trains student pilots in performing pre-flight inspections of a JDAM. Fused deposition modeling is a relatively new process that produces high-quality three-dimensional objects from a polymer material with computer control of the finished product. Once the machine is programmed and loaded, it can run unattended for several days, operating very much like a three-dimensional printer. Project manager Larry Shook said, "Our trainer development flight has done some amazing things on smaller scales with this new build technology, but this was our first large scale, detailed build and theend result is absolutely astonishing." The current trainer in use at Tyndall is an inert MK-83 and JDAM, and an actual BRU-46 with a combined weight of more than 1,000 pounds, which normal classroom floors wouldn't support. This restricted the location for training to a noisy aircraft hangar with little climate control. The total weight of the new full scale trainer is about 100 pounds, allowing it to be placed in any classroom while still replicating the full 10-foot length of the real thing. Larry Simek, 325th OSS quality assurance representative, explained that the full-scale JDAM/BRU-46 trainer developed by the 81st TRSS will provide a hands-on training device that enables the instructor pilot to point out the important items and allows the tudent pilot to get a size and placement perspective as they prepare to perform pre-flight JDAM inspections. Mr. Simek also noted a cost savings of more than $100,000 by using the newly-fabricated trainer. "The total cost of this project was $61,000, including labor, but since we're a government owned government-operated organization, the true cost to the customer was just for materials, about $16,200," Mr. Shook reported. The engineering, design and fabrication took six months, well within the time frame requested by the customer, he added. "Unlike some past projects that involved only one or two of the flight's work centers to complete, the JDAM/BRU-46 project required the skills of various crafts," Mr. Shook pointed out. One of the fabricators, Tom Capers, has years of experience in machining all types of metals, but this was his first time working with polymer material. "I found this project challenging but interesting and realized that it is possible to teach an old dog new tricks," Mr. Capers remarked. Other trainer development work centers contributed significantly to getting the job done on time and within budget, including engineering and the paint, sheet metal and woodworking shops. "The new technology we've added to trainer development, along with the new facilities, has greatly increased our ability to support the needs of the 81st Training Wing and other units across the Air Force," emphasized Lt. Col. Janet Pattison, 81st TRSS commander. The trainer is scheduled for delivery to the customer later this month.