FEATURE
Training composite
aircraft repairers
The entry into service of an increasing number of composites-intensive
aircraft is creating demand for technicians skilled in repairing these
materials. Freelance journalist George Marsh reports.
T
he question of how to repair the
latest half composite commercial
airliners – notably the Boeing 787
Dreamliner and Airbus A350 XWB – when
damaged has been thrown into sharp
relief by a fire that occurred in July on
an Ethiopian Airlines B787 whilst on the
ground at London Heathrow Airport. This
fire, apparently caused by a faulty Emer-
gency Locator Transmitter (ELT), seriously
damaged the composite fuselage towards
the tail and requires a major repair that
Composite repair courses have a strong focus on practical work. (Picture courtesy of Abaris.)
30 REINFORCEDplastics NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013
is well outside the scope of the manufac-
turer’s Structural Repair Manual (SRM).
Boeing, faced for the first time with this
extensive damage to a tape-wound
composite fuselage, is (at the time of
writing) considering how to undertake this
repair – once the legal arguments regarding
liability for the costs have been settled. The
nature and magnitude of the task take the
airframer into new territory and Boeing
will have to learn by experience in actually
0034-3617/13 ©2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
doing the job. This also happens to be the
best way, albeit on a smaller scale and on
a personal level, that technicians around
the world can learn how to repair the latest
generation of largely composite aircraft.
Hence hands-on practice should be a key
element of technician training. Admittedly,
course participants are not stepping into
the unknown to the same extent since they
learn under close guidance from instruct-
ors who have relevant expertise. Even
so, they will be embarking on a journey
of discovery that is not just personal but
involves the entire aircraft maintenance,
repair and overhaul (MRO) industry. Indeed,
today’s students will soon find themselves
helping to develop tomorrow’s repair solu-
tions for the new generation of extensively
composite aerostructures.
Practical experience
Hands-on emphasis is certainly clear
at UK-based Aeroskills International Ltd
whose courses are as much as 80% prac-
tical and workshop focused. This modestly
sized company has provided training in
composite aerostructure repairs since 1992,
making use of fully equipped workshops at
the University of Hertfordshire and work-
shops of similar standard around the world.
Aeroskills training, based on repair methods
specified by aircraft manufacturers, gives
students hand-on experience of repairs with

A ‘hot bonder’ can be used to cure and monitor the curing of the composite repair ‘patch.’ These machines
typically include a heater and a vacuum source. (Picture courtesy of Abaris.)
a wide variety of materials, including glass,
carbon and aramid fabrics and prepregs,
epoxy resins and Nomex and aluminium
honeycombs. Customers include major
airlines, maintenance companies and air
force maintenance departments. Instruc-
tion is not product based and equipment
such as tooling, hot bonders and vacuum
bagging is sourced from a range of
manufacturers.
Each of the company’s Aircraft Compos-
ites Repair courses takes 10 working days.
After some initial theory, course content
is mainly practical, with students actively
repairing both monolithic and sandwich
structures including curved panels and
edge bands. Trainees handle wet lay-up and
prepreg materials, and use custom-made
tooling. Overall, they gain enough pract-
ical experience to enable them to tackle
most common types of damage to aircraft
composite structures.
An organisation that has become a global
force in composites education, including
repairs, is Abaris Training Resources Inc, a
US firm that can boast three decades of
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experience in this field, with over 1000
trainees per year now experiencing its
instruction. As president Michael Hoke
expounds: “All our courses include a great
deal of hands-on practice, providing real-
world scenarios, on actual composite parts
and components. Our students go away
with the confidence and knowledge to
conduct top-quality repairs in a timely
manner.”
R is for repair
Abaris offers 18 courses for hands-on
technicians and 8 suitable for degree-level
engineers. Training is available at set loca-
tions around the world or at customer
sites as required. Technicians experienced
in repairing metal aircraft are taught how
to repair damaged composite structures
in three phases. Each of the three R (for
repair) courses takes an intensive five days.
The first week is a foundation course that
is half theory, imparting basic composites
knowledge, and half practical. The second
five-day phase is about 75% practical,
students undertaking a repair each day,
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013
FEATURE
with repairs increasing in complexity as
the week progresses. Students are given
composite samples that present different
repair challenges, material usage and
processes. During the exercises, they
experience various types of hot bonder,
learn the finer points of heat blanket and
thermocouple placement, and engage with
multiple bagging schedules and bleeder/
breather scenarios.
In Phase 3, which is as much as 90%
practical, students undertake a single major
repair over the five working days.
Associated lectures cover such aspects as:
• introduction to repair instructions given in
manufacturers’ SRMs;
• understanding of different materials and
laminates; and
• site preparation, including excising of
damage, paint removal, laminate drying
and surface preparation.
Composite repair skills
are not something
you can learn at the
computer; you might as
well ask someone to learn
how to ride a bicycle
from the Internet.
Teaching encompasses both scarfed and
patch repairs. At the end of the three
weeks, technicians are considered compe-
tent to tackle any of the routine repairs
within the scope of the airframer’s SRM.
Other related courses deal with non-
destructive testing (NDT), repair of bonded
(composite-to-composite and composite-
to-metal) structures, mould tool fabrication,
repair analysis and substantiation and, as a
pinnacle, a ‘train the trainer’ course leading
to instructor certification.
REINFORCEDplastics 31
 FEATURE
Repairs can also be cured in an oven. (Picture courtesy of Abaris.)
Students have expressed appreciation of
the high practical content of Abaris training
and in acknowledging this Hoke notes: “It’s
important to make sure that composite
repair technicians have the hands-on
skills required and they can only gain
these by practice. We do get requests for
online courses, but that’s just not realistic.
Composite repair skills are not something
you can learn at the computer; you might
as well ask someone to learn how to ride a
bicycle from the Internet.”
Hoke is proud of his company’s ability to
train from foundation right through to
instructor level. A firm believer in cert-
ification, he continues to champion the
development of certification routes via
the Commercial Aircraft Composite Repair
Committee (CACRC), which is pursuing a
model already proven through aerospace
welding and NDT certification training.
Aircraft specific
Recently Abaris has been training British
Airways (BA) and Airbus engineers in a
32 REINFORCEDplastics NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013
joint venture with hot bonder supplier
Heatcon, at a facility in Bicester, near
Oxford, UK. However, from the end of this
year, the Heatcon-Abaris Training part-
nership will be changed and Abaris will
start operating courses independently at
a new training facility in Amsterdam, the
Netherlands.
Meanwhile, within the present partner-
ship, four separate Phase 1 and Phase 2
classes in Advanced Composite Fabrication
and Damage Repair, have recently been
provided for a dozen students in each
case from British Airways Maintenance
in Cardiff, South Wales. This subsidiary
performs heavy maintenance on the airline’s
long-haul aircraft. Senior instructor Corrie
Volinkaty, who headed up those courses,
told Reinforced Plastics that laboratory work
is tailored for specific airframes of interest to
course participants. This is easier to arrange
when, as in the BA case, a single airline
has booked all the available course places,
but efforts are made to provide relevance
for all trainees even where a mix of client
organisations is involved.
With composites now being specified
for the aircraft fuselage as well as wings,
empennage and control surfaces, some BA
technicians will find themselves carrying
out repairs to B787 fuselages when they
suffer knocks from ground service vehicles.
Such instances have already occurred with
other airlines. For example, a Japanese
operated Dreamliner struck by a truck
required a bonded patch repair to its
fuselage. Additionally, several instances of
lightning strike have resulted in damage
ranging from the cosmetic to several plies
of affected laminate.
Repairs may require
anything from a
prefabricated composite
patch, suitable for most
light ‘dings’, to a titanium
doubler for cases of more
severe damage.
Repairs may require anything from a
prefabricated composite patch, suitable
for most light ‘dings’, to a titanium doubler
for cases of more severe damage. (Tita-
nium does not corrode in the presence
of carbon fibre reinforced plastic). Abaris
acknowledges this and aims for basic
competency in repairing fuselages as well
as the more familiar composite aerostruc-
tures. It is also working on the develop-
ment of more advanced airframe repair
courses that will go beyond SRM limits,
though success in this task will depend
on the degree to which airframe manu-
facturers are prepared to make proprietary
structural information available.
Another customised programme the part-
nership ran recently was at the Airbus
wing-making establishment at Broughton,
UK. Training was largely focused on the
new 50% composite A350 widebody twin-
jet and included exercises and lectures in
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 FEATURE

composite repair techniques, light manu-
facturing rework and repairs to foreign
object damage (FOD) – the latter being
damage caused by impacts from debris and
other random objects.
Corrie Volinkaty explains that the course was
designed primarily for production workers,
was overseen by Airbus quality assurance
professionals and was a combination of
Phases 1 and 2 content tailored particularly
to Airbus requirements.
British Airways, like a number of major
airlines, also undertakes composites
training of its own, preparing line and
base maintenance technicians to repair
slight to moderate damage that would
normally be within the scope of the
Structural Repair Manual. In preparing for
the current induction into its fleet of both
the Boeing B787 and the Airbus A380
superjumbo, BA has invested in expanded
facilities at its BA Engineering Learning
Academy. Enhanced ability to provide
Part 66 basic skills training for category
A, B and C licences includes improved
facilities for instruction in composites
and structural repairs. The Academy was
the world’s first approved training school
able to deliver both B787 and A380 B1/B2
training. With an eye to the growing main-
tenance and repair aftermarket, it offers
training for third parties as well as its own
technicians.
Aerospace participants in Dark Matter
courses have praised them for their hands-
on nature and a good balance between
theory and practice. As one higher-level
course participant commented: “The prac-
tical elements were most useful to myself
as an experienced engineering graduate. The
theory was similar to degree material but the
practical was an opportunity rarely offered or
encountered.”
FL Technics Training of Latvia provides
a Composites Repair Theoretical and Prac-
tical Course designed to equip students
to carry out repairs in accordance with
SRM instructions. Participants receive a
Part-147 certificate on successful course
completion.
Another organisation that emphasises
the importance of hands-on practice is
Advanced Composites Training (ACT), the
training division of Renaissance Aeronau-
tics Associates Inc (RAA), based in Ontario,
Canada. ACT aims to provide technicians
with the ‘right mix of theory, hands-on
instruction and enabling technologies.’
RAA was the first privately-owned company
in Canada to receive both Transport Canada
approval and Canadian Aviation Maintenance
accreditation to teach repair and manufac-
turing processes for advanced composite
aircraft structures. Course status is empha-
sised by the fact that the Federal Aviation
Authority (FAA) in neighbouring USA has
accepted 12 of ACT’s composites courses as
qualifying for Inspector Authorisation renewal.
Tailored courses are conducted at customer
sites worldwide or at ACT facilities. Sometimes
customer facilities are best since they can
combine well equipped workshops and clean
areas with fleet proximity so that courses can
embody real-environment learning opportuni-
ties. Trainees avoid extra travel expenses and
are likely to feel more comfortable in their
own familiar surroundings. It can be a cost-
effective option, says the company, for six or
seven employees at a time, provided class-
room facilities are available.
After taking two initial course modules in
materials and structures then damage and
repairs, students can progress to a third

More training suppliers

UK-based Dark Matter Composites offers
a Composites Repair (Stage 1) course in
which 70% of content is practical, based
on demonstrations and hands-on exer-
cises. Topics range from detection and
evaluation of damage through temporary
repairs to high quality permanent repairs.
In dealing with a range of test specimens,
students are assessed on such capabili-
ties as step-sanded surface preparation,
identification of laminate plies, application
of orientated materials, vacuum bagging,
curing, surface finishing, blending and
polishing. Although the course is general
in scope, it can form a good foundation for
aircraft repair work. A repair in process. (Picture courtesy of Abaris.)

www.reinforcedplastics.com NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 REINFORCEDplastics 33

 FEATURE
A honeycomb repair. (Picture courtesy of Abaris.)
module that deals with advanced structural
repairs that are beyond the scope of the
SRM. Clients have included the likes of Air
Canada, US Air, Bombardier Aerospace and
Eurocopter.
ACT favours the use of WichiTech
Composite Repair Systems, mainly hot
bonders with associated test and ancillary
equipment.
Recently ACT has extended its reach
across the Atlantic to Ireland, by regularly
providing courses at the FAS Training Centre
in Shannon, in conjunction with Ireland-
based All-Round Composites Ltd. (FAS is the
country’s Training and Employment Agency.)
GA too
Not all development in the MRO sector
is driven by commercial passenger
aircraft. Light and sport aircraft (known as
general aviation or GA types) are, similarly,
becoming extensively composite.
Cessna Aircraft, as one example, has
certified ACT as an approved trainer for
34 REINFORCEDplastics NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013
structural repair techniques on its all-
composite Corvalis 350/400/TTX (formerly
Columbia) light aircraft family. After suffering
some material quality-related issues in
its Corvalis programme, Cessna wanted
to enhance the capabilities of the repair
technicians that work in its global service
centre network and enlisted ACT to help.
Certain small aircraft firms provide their own
in-house training. For instance, Cirrus Aircraft
operates a 40-hour composites repair course
that is aimed primarily at technicians in
authorised service centres that will have
to repair its aircraft. Content majors on
repairs that can readily be carried out in the
field without expensive equipment or the
need for high temperature, high pressure
cures. Repairs taught are in line with the
company’s Aircraft Maintenance Manual
and typically involve cutting out a damaged
area and then, after appropriately preparing
the damage site, bonding in a replacement
section that has been pre-fabricated in
the factory.
Meanwhile, in terms of the largest repair to
a commercial airliner composite structure
ever attempted, Boeing is still (at time of
writing) in discussions with its customer,
Ethiopian Airlines, and insurers about how
to reinstate the airline’s B787 that caught
fire at Heathrow. Action will certainly involve
more than cutting away the damaged
area of carbon composite skin and replacing
it with a patch. Stringers and other structure
beneath the skin will likely require evalua-
tion, renewal and testing. Special NDT will
be needed to establish whether, in the
periphery of the affected area beyond
where damage is obvious by virtue of
charred fibres, laminate properties have
been degraded by excessive heating of the
resin. (A hand-held infra-red spectrometer
developed over the last three to four years
is said to work well in identifying such
thermal degradation.)
Expertise garnered by the airframer over
several years in repairing large B777 twin-
jets, though useful, will not alone suffice.
Major structural repairs to fuselages, the
crucial pressurised passenger-carrying
element of the aircraft structure, are
new territory and as Boeing treads care-
fully into it, airlines and aircraft producers
around the world will be watching with
interest. So will the composites education
community as it adapts to the new material
environment. ■
Further information
Abaris Training Resources Inc;
www.abaris.com
Advanced Composites Training (ACT);
www.raacomposites.com
Aeroskills International Ltd;
www.aeroskills.co.uk
Dark Matter Composites;
www.darkmattercomposites.co.uk
FL Technics Training;
www.fltechnicstraining.com
Heatcon; www.heatcon.com
WichiTech Composite Repair Systems;
www.wichitech.com
Related articles
Meeting the challenge of composite fuselage
repair; http://tinyurl.com/owmomdf
Composites poised to transform airline
economics; http://tinyurl.com/q2zm7e7
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