Abstract
In recent years aircraft maintenance practices have been influenced by changes in aircraft design philosophy and improvements in engineering technology. Advances in manufacturing techniques and material specifications have made it less necessary to carry out frequent disassembly of aircraft and components to establish confidence. The need to be competitive and to reduce costs has meant that the aviation industry has sought to gain advantage from these improvements by moving from time consuming and cost extensive, invasive maintenance to a philosophy of on condition maintenance (OCM). The research is aimed at highlighting an OCM based maintenance methodology by carrying out an extensive study on structural integrity of various vintage Chinese fighter aircraft. The study finds that the structure of Chinese fighter aircraft is robust and is capable of flying for more hours/years than specified by OEM. The study will help air forces operating the ageing Chinese fighter aircraft in extending the lives of their respective fleets well beyond the OEM prescribed limits.