Keeping the suits prepared

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Chuck Broadway
  • 9th Reconnaissance Wing Public Affairs
BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  When a U-2 Dragon Lady increases altitude, the pilot entrusts his or her life to the skills and knowledge of the suit maintenance office in the 9th Physiological Support Squadron.

The small office has the responsibility of keeping the U-2 pressure suits functioning properly to keep pilots at a constant pressure during a high-altitude flight.

The suit maintenance members work their magic daily to keep a clean track record and ensure no pressure suit fails at high altitudes.

When Airmen come to the 9th PSPTS and join the suit maintenance crew, they must go through an in-house training course. This six-week training gives them hands-on experience with the suits and familiarizes them with everything they need to know to accomplish the mission.

"We do a lot of hands-on work with 'training only' equipment," said Senior Airman Michael McLaughlin, a 9th PSPTS aerospace suit technician. "When I began working, I was extremely confident in my ability."

Airman McLaughlin, the newest member of the maintenance team said he specifically wanted to join the program, citing advice from a prior supervisor at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, who had previously been in the program.

"He told me how great the job and work environment was here," Airman McLaughlin said. "The program is different and it's a unique experience. The work is step-by-step and very tedious. It's the only job like it in the Air Force, and it supports an interesting mission."

U-2 pilots are the only aviators in the Air Force who operate an aircraft within the confines of the bulky ensemble.

Each suit costs approximately $250,000 and with more than $90 million in inventory, the maintenance office has plenty of suits to keep them busy.

Every 120 days or 125 flight hours, whichever comes first, each suit is brought in for routine maintenance. It is during this inspection that suit maintenance technicians go over every inch of the equipment to keep it working properly.

The routine inspections take about 24 hours to complete. The process includes disassembling the suit by taking off the outer layer and inner-comfort liner and washing it. A thorough inspection of the "bladder," or inner liner, is done to ensure it will hold pressure. Tests are performed to check for holes that cause abnormal amounts of air to seep out.

"The suit is like a balloon," said Staff Sgt. John Doyle, 9th PSPTS assistant NCO in charge of suit maintenance. "It has a leak rate, but we ensure the suit stays within that rate."

If any abnormalities are found, they are repaired using a chemical cement bond. If a major leak is found, the suit will be patched up by the suit depot section of the office, or shipped to the manufacturer for refurbishment.

The depot section is also in charge of sewing any rips or tears to the outer layer of the suit, as well as custom fitting it to each pilot's body.

When a new pilot enters the U-2 program, they are fitted for a suit specifically assigned to them during the entire time they are flying the Dragon Lady. Suit maintenance technicians will collect data from the pilot such as height and weight as well as arm and leg measurements. The suit is tailored using 16 different measurements covering the entire body to create the best fit possible.

"It's really for their comfort," Sergeant Doyle said. "You're not going to fit perfectly in a premade suit so we fit it to them as best we can. [The fitting] is also for dexterity such as when their using their arms to push buttons and operate."

Adjustments are made by tightening or loosening strings covering various parts of the suit. The fitting process takes less than two hours with the pilot in the suit, and several hours completing the adjustments afterward.

When a pilot leaves, the process is reversed.

"Anytime a pilot leaves, we have to completely break down the suit," said Jim Denniston, 9th PSPTS fabric worker in the depot section. "We also clean it and remove the fittings to ready the suit for a new pilot."

Because Sergeant Doyle and the rest of the suit maintenance staff hold the lives of every pilot in their hands, they have a 100 percent quality control environment. Everything they do is double- and triple-checked to ensure the technician has done their job correctly, and the suit is functioning properly.

"Without our equipment intelligence doesn't get collected," Sergeant Doyle said. "Whether it's in the war or where Hurricane Katrina went through; if surveillance from a U-2 is being taken, they need our equipment to keep them alive."