One Pass Drilling of Precision Holes in Aircraft Structures

This paper will discuss various drill process techniques developed and implemented at the Boeing facility in St. Louis for producing precision fastener holes in a variety of aircraft materials with a single drill pass operation. In other words, we are not drilling a pilot hole before the drill pass or taking a final ream pass after the drill pass. The benefits include cycle time savings, perishable tool savings, and an improvement in the quality of the holes. The types of drilling processes that will be discussed include power feed drilling using portable power tools. Aspects of the drilling process that will be discussed include cutting tools, coolants, equipment, tooling / drill plates and vacuum collection.