May 1-2 2024 Alum Shim Plate Delivery Hangar 325 Update

 This is a picture of the .25 inch thick piece of alum plate 62 inches by 48 inches as delivered to the Repair Guys (Department) at FRCSouthwest yesterday. This piece has been CNC machined based on a scan of the underside of the aircraft (see our progress page ( back on June 2, 2023) https://sh60fhoas.navalhelicopterassociation.org/work-party-june-21-2023/   . This piece (alum shim) will fit against the underside of the aircraft over the RAST hole, with a 1 inch thick piece of A-36 Steel same size holding it against the underside of the aircraft.  They will use this shim to now mark all the rivet heads in the underside and remove them and drill up through the framework. They will be using a large magnetic drill when ready to drill 120 holes in the 1 inch thick steel to match the rivet heads removed to allow long fasteners to bolt both plates to the underside of the aircraft. So the 1 inch thick steel plate sandwiches the .25 inch alum shim against the bottom of the aircraft and is to be attached by 120 fasteners going up through the steel plate, alum shim through the bottom of the aircraft frame honeycomb and held with nuts inside the aircraft. 

If you think it is complicated, it is. This overall steel plate attachment has morphed from doing this same machining now done to a thin piece of alum to an original 1.25 inch steel plate 48 inches by 62 inches to just using a alum shim .25 inches thick fully CNS machined and a 1 inch thick 48 inch by 62 inch plate with just 120 holes drilled through it……………The thought planning and engineering has added 6 months or more to the project and substantial costs.

I included pictures of another MH-60S in work for NAWDC which is hangered next to our 60F. It has a nice new paint scheme including a HAL-3 decal on the nose.