Wide Format Imaging

CAD/CAM Services Inc. was recently awarded a $1,400,000 contract by Tinker Air Force Base to scan 45,000 aircraft drawings dating from the 1950s to the present day. This scanning contract begins immediately. CAD/CAM Services expects to deliver 2,000 calibrated images each month via a secure FTP site.

A local scanning office that is close to Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma will be doing the scanning.

The Tinker Air Force project requires a tolerance of +/-.005-inch accuracy over any five- or ten-inch area for the digital scanned files. The drawings are on Mylar, which is a plastic sheeting material that may be affected over the years by changes in temperature. This means that the older drawings may have stretched or otherwise changed in size, affecting the accuracy of the drawing itself.

"The accuracy of the final digital file is of paramount importance to us. These digital files are stored in Tinker Air Force Base's electronic repository as a permanent archive for all of our drawings. If we need to refer to these digital drawings, or print out a new paper drawing, it is essential that the measurements be as accurate as, if not better than the original Mylar drawing when it was new," said Frank Maschino, Engineering Data Manager, at Tinker Air Force Base.

CadCam Services has a proprietary method that electronically compensates for error within each five- or ten-inches to restore original drawing accuracy. This is a Boeing and Lockheed certifiable tolerance for aircraft drawings.