{"id":32160,"date":"2023-03-29T22:13:19","date_gmt":"2023-03-29T22:13:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2023\/03\/29\/in-utah-one-airmans-trashed-f-35-is-anothers-training-aid\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:15:31","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:15:31","slug":"in-utah-one-airmans-trashed-f-35-is-anothers-training-aid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/training-sim\/2023\/03\/29\/in-utah-one-airmans-trashed-f-35-is-anothers-training-aid\/","title":{"rendered":"In Utah, one airman\u2019s trashed F-35 is another\u2019s training aid"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah\u2014Call it the \u201cIsland of Misfit Toys.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tucked away in a beige, concrete workshop at the 388th Maintenance Squadron here, the remnants of trashed F-35 Lightning II fighter jets are getting a second wind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Airmen are turning unflyable aircraft into training assets for F-35 maintainers who would otherwise have to learn those lessons on an operational jet or a computer. The master sergeant in charge argues it\u2019s saving the Air Force millions of dollars \u2014 and it\u2019s fun, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A reassembled F-35A airframe is hoisted during a new crash recovery training course Sept. 13, 2022, at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. The course included 29 maintainers from across the U.S. and partner nations’ F-35 programs. (Air Force)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Salvaging planes has become a pet project for Master Sgt. Andrew Wilkow, a maintainer with the 372nd Training Squadron. Rehabbing the wrecks is one of his full-time jobs, after a career of repairing battle damage and overhauling jets at maintenance depots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Right now, he\u2019s working on the beaten-up cockpit of a Marine Corps F-35B that crashed near Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina, in 2018<\/a>. A Pratt & Whitney F135 engine that was salvaged from a 2020 mishap at Eglin AFB, Florida,<\/a> sits nearby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea started in 2020, when Wilkow helped the F-35 Joint Program Office reattach a jet\u2019s wings \u2014 a process for which the program had no blueprint. That aircraft caught fire upon takeoff at Eglin in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hill figured out a way to stick the wings back on<\/a>, and later used the fuselage to train F-35 crew chiefs and maintainers in repairing combat damage. Then an acquaintance at the program office wanted to repay the favor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[He] said, \u2018Hey, I\u2019ve got some crashed jet parts. Do you want those?\u2019\u201d Wilkow said. \u201cThat turned into \u2026 \u2018Well, what can\u2019t I have?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t