One for the maintainers, hardest job you have done
Setting up the searchlight on Nimmy's - far too many volts waiting to hit you on a damp Scottish night shift if you didn't locate your screwdriver exactly on the potentiometers while wearing 3 layers of arc welding glass to stop your retinas getting scorched
Another was getting the Herc Tanker HDUs set up, alas we didn't have a "gag" in ASI so had to do it while airborne rather than on the ground.
Another was getting the Herc Tanker HDUs set up, alas we didn't have a "gag" in ASI so had to do it while airborne rather than on the ground.
Loathed replacing the ADD probe on the Harrier (GR3),upsidedown in the cockpit,one handed at full stretch,hot & cold - lovely!
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Changing the torque gauge and its continuous capillary tube, all the way
inside the leading edge, to the engine, on a Beverley.
Checking the tail fin de-icing mat fuses on a Brit. They were directly under the bogs. It was very sticky!
Changing anything, on the Vulcan instrument panels
inside the leading edge, to the engine, on a Beverley.
Checking the tail fin de-icing mat fuses on a Brit. They were directly under the bogs. It was very sticky!
Changing anything, on the Vulcan instrument panels
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Right hand Canopy torque tube bearing mounting bracket on a Tornado, lots of High torque fittings right at the top of zone 19, I've done the left one which is not so bad but the right one is awful. I was asked about how hard it was to do on one of our jets in Gulf 1 because I had done one recently. In the end they carefully closed the canopy and flew it home.
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Not even maintenance, just turn-around, but I still recall fitting the starter cartridges on a Hunter T.7 during the practical phase of EngO training at Cranwell in the early 90s. All you had to do was lie underneath and reach up inside to screw the cartridges into place - easy, so long as you had a 4' arm with two elbows...
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The riggers that used to crawl into fuel tanks had my greatest respect. One job that I couldn't have done, the very thought of it makes me shudder. Hats off to you guys.
Incidentally when building the Comet, one man was required in the wing to do up the fasteners, they had a in case of emergency cupboard that contained a concrete cutter so they could saw through the wing skins to rescue the trapped person.
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Satellite Driver Aaaaah the hunter. Line training aircrew to fit carts good fun, but practical solution "Sir landing away you have two starts left".
Off thread - Civvy Hunters with electric starter mod not the same as BANG SMOKE that's the engine started. No jet noise in the air can beat the sound of a large piston, but the Hunter blue note must come near.
Off thread - Civvy Hunters with electric starter mod not the same as BANG SMOKE that's the engine started. No jet noise in the air can beat the sound of a large piston, but the Hunter blue note must come near.
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Talking of aircrew, one of the toghest jobs I had was to tell a Buccaneer navigator that I'd fixed his radio problem. The reason why it was a tough job was because I had to say it with a straight face when the only fault found was that the volume had been turned all the way down.
Oh and the reason you had degraded performane in OFF mode was because it wasn't in ON mode.
Did hear one tale of a Mighty Hunter maintenance task where they were not afraid to reach out for assistance. Allegedly the trip landed somewhere in the land of the big PX, and before departing at speed for the hotels and pools the crew snagged the aircraft saying they has spilt 15 cups of tea in the galley.
Crew chief managed to get them recalled to the aircraft by entering in the F700 "fourteen cups of tea found, one cup of tea not found. Aircrew requested to carry out loose article check for missing cup of tea...."
Oh and the reason you had degraded performane in OFF mode was because it wasn't in ON mode.
Did hear one tale of a Mighty Hunter maintenance task where they were not afraid to reach out for assistance. Allegedly the trip landed somewhere in the land of the big PX, and before departing at speed for the hotels and pools the crew snagged the aircraft saying they has spilt 15 cups of tea in the galley.
Crew chief managed to get them recalled to the aircraft by entering in the F700 "fourteen cups of tea found, one cup of tea not found. Aircrew requested to carry out loose article check for missing cup of tea...."
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Ref 'Rionart' Post #2, "Detail X on a JP undercarriage was always fun the first time..." Couldn't agree more, but would add.... and then forgetting to remove the rigging pin before doing undercarriage retraction tests.
Another job that could expand your vocabulary was changing the secondary servo pack on a Wessex.
Another job that could expand your vocabulary was changing the secondary servo pack on a Wessex.
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C130 burners
Just changed the second set in 3 days! Bl**dy drain valves on the turbine also great fun.
My first year on Herc's was on Primary Team - it was amazing the number of naff jobs that got put back to 'Next Primary Servicing'. Then the line would complain that the plane was away too long.
Just changed the second set in 3 days! Bl**dy drain valves on the turbine also great fun.
My first year on Herc's was on Primary Team - it was amazing the number of naff jobs that got put back to 'Next Primary Servicing'. Then the line would complain that the plane was away too long.
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Crew chief managed to get them recalled to the aircraft by entering in the F700 "fourteen cups of tea found, one cup of tea not found. Aircrew requested to carry out loose article check for missing cup of tea...."
'Nasty smell in cockpit'
'Nasty smell removed, nice smell fitted'
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Just sneaking in by the side door here (as aircrew); one of the frustrating aspects of the techie/aircrew interaction was the latter knowing that a fault had been experienced and the former carrying out the fault finding process and not finding said malfunction - thus "NFF" in the 700.
Subsequent sorties and the fault continues to manifest itself and remains undectable on the ground; hence a dgree of frustration all round.
One that particularly springs to mind was an avionics/electrical fault on the Vulcan, which was eventually resolved by the affected nav sitting down with the split brain Ch Tech and describing in detail what happened and the stage of flight at which the fault materialised. Seems the cabin pressuristaion deformed the rear bulkhead by a tiny amount, and the cables connecting cabin eqpt to electrical supply were ever so much too short, causing them to ease out of the connector by an amount sufficient to break the connection, then subsequently get pushed back in when the pressurisation process was reversed.
Similar symptoms on the next generation - Tornado - where airborne malfunctions could also not be reproduced on the ground; only to be expected when the dynamics of flight are imposed on the the sensitive parts of the kit.
So, not trying to do the engineer's job, but reporting as accurately as possible the fault and the conditions of flight when it appeared. Not even suggesting any suspicions as to cause (it would only be guesswork, given the aircrew limited knowledge of the systems they operate regularly...), but giving as much detail as might be required for techie head scratching to achieve a solution - better than just changing the LRU and experiencing the fault on subsequent flights. I believe we used to call it teamwork (except that didn't work too well when we had centralised servicing - much better to all be of one squadron).
Mister B
Subsequent sorties and the fault continues to manifest itself and remains undectable on the ground; hence a dgree of frustration all round.
One that particularly springs to mind was an avionics/electrical fault on the Vulcan, which was eventually resolved by the affected nav sitting down with the split brain Ch Tech and describing in detail what happened and the stage of flight at which the fault materialised. Seems the cabin pressuristaion deformed the rear bulkhead by a tiny amount, and the cables connecting cabin eqpt to electrical supply were ever so much too short, causing them to ease out of the connector by an amount sufficient to break the connection, then subsequently get pushed back in when the pressurisation process was reversed.
Similar symptoms on the next generation - Tornado - where airborne malfunctions could also not be reproduced on the ground; only to be expected when the dynamics of flight are imposed on the the sensitive parts of the kit.
So, not trying to do the engineer's job, but reporting as accurately as possible the fault and the conditions of flight when it appeared. Not even suggesting any suspicions as to cause (it would only be guesswork, given the aircrew limited knowledge of the systems they operate regularly...), but giving as much detail as might be required for techie head scratching to achieve a solution - better than just changing the LRU and experiencing the fault on subsequent flights. I believe we used to call it teamwork (except that didn't work too well when we had centralised servicing - much better to all be of one squadron).
Mister B
Hardest job..
was going out to a line snag on the F.3 at a secret Lincs fighter base with a spare set of flying gloves for the AOC.
AOC: "Where are my gloves? Have you checked my locker? Someones stolen them! etc"
SB: "They aren't in your helmet slot Sir..have these spares instead.."
AOC grumbles into his oxygen mask to the rear seater about squippers, missing gloves and a bad fitting helmet.
An hour later and our valiant aviators return, I'm stood in ops as the AOC enters the building with his helmet on. He looks fairly agitated, again grumbling about the squippers giving him a poor helmet fit and him getting a massive headache as a result.
As he takes the helmet off out drops a pair of flying gloves..
AOC: "Where are my gloves? Have you checked my locker? Someones stolen them! etc"
SB: "They aren't in your helmet slot Sir..have these spares instead.."
AOC grumbles into his oxygen mask to the rear seater about squippers, missing gloves and a bad fitting helmet.
An hour later and our valiant aviators return, I'm stood in ops as the AOC enters the building with his helmet on. He looks fairly agitated, again grumbling about the squippers giving him a poor helmet fit and him getting a massive headache as a result.
As he takes the helmet off out drops a pair of flying gloves..
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The riggers that used to crawl into fuel tanks had my greatest respect.
Me, I didn't want to know, no way was I going in there.
This whole thread is really not about 'hard jobs' but simple jobs made difficult, by various bit of kit being put in inaccessible places, and a/c being parked in 'ot and cold places.
"The riggers that used to crawl into fuel tanks had my greatest respect."
Not forgetting the Leckies who have to replace the tank probes & associated wiring - best aircraft to do this job on? The Vulcan - loads of room in most of the tanks. The worst by far - The Herc - horrid, horrid, horrid.
"At least when adjusting the searchlight you could get a tan!" not quite - it was bad sunburn more like.
Not forgetting the Leckies who have to replace the tank probes & associated wiring - best aircraft to do this job on? The Vulcan - loads of room in most of the tanks. The worst by far - The Herc - horrid, horrid, horrid.
"At least when adjusting the searchlight you could get a tan!" not quite - it was bad sunburn more like.
F4 Air Conditioning system Cold Air Unit. Tools required included jacking handle, (to prise the pipes off the unit), a length of lashing tape, and a Land Rover, (to pull the unit free from the pipework).
F4 - The only aircraft to have a sledgehammer as part of the
fly away tool kit
F4 - The only aircraft to have a sledgehammer as part of the
fly away tool kit
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HTB
Hence a techie often found himself strapped in, for an airtest, to see the fault for himself.
In my case it was the occasional LABS run across Episkopi Bay
was the latter knowing that a fault had been experienced and the former carrying out the fault finding process and not finding said malfunction - thus "NFF" in the 700.
In my case it was the occasional LABS run across Episkopi Bay
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Not directly aviation related but the principle still applies.
RAF Driffield 1961 - SNCO i/c MT fitters has several National Servicemen as MT Mechs/Fitters who were vehicle designers from UK vehicle producers. The SNCO always gave these chaps the jobs that vehicle design had made more difficult than they should have been in the faint hope that future designs would be improved.
RAF Driffield 1961 - SNCO i/c MT fitters has several National Servicemen as MT Mechs/Fitters who were vehicle designers from UK vehicle producers. The SNCO always gave these chaps the jobs that vehicle design had made more difficult than they should have been in the faint hope that future designs would be improved.