Air force engineer lauded for bright idea at Innovation Symposium

An idea by a Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) engineer to replace just the lights on the F-15SG fighter jet instead of the whole wing tip component not only saved money and downtime for the plane but also made its way into the technical manual for F-15 operators all over the world.

It was among the innovations the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) lauded at the annual Innovation Symposium, held at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) yesterday.

Changing any faulty LED lights at the wing tips of an F-15SG jet used to mean the aircraft would be down for two days, affecting its availability.

According to the technical manual by Boeing, the aircraft’s manufacturer, the entire wing position lighting assembly, which houses the lights that make the aircraft easier to spot, had to be changed.

But Military Expert 3 Ng Yong Yong, 47, realised that just the LED module could be replaced, instead of the entire assembly.

It was more than 99 per cent cheaper to do it this way and the whole process took just three man-hours instead of two days.

“It’s actually rather simple. When fluorescent lights in our homes are defective, we just change out the light bulb. So why couldn’t we do the same for the aircraft?” said the air force engineer, who has been in service for 26 years.

After doing the necessary trials and getting airworthiness approvals, the new process was implemented in all F-15SGs in the RSAF early last year. It has been approved by Boeing and incorporated into its technical manual for F-15 operators.

Yesterday, 68 awards were presented to individuals, groups and units in recognition of their innovations and work improvement efforts at the Innovation Symposium, officiated by Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen.

Mindef said such efforts across the organisation led to savings of more than $190 million in the last financial year.

The public can visit the Innovation Symposium exhibition at the SUTD atrium until today.

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