Originally Posted by
Tashengurt
Cheers for responding John, I have indeed given up on Twitter as a bad lot.
I accept your points that you do mention, loosely, the Armourers and at least one parachute packer and I understand that "This one time I took a parachute out of its seat, serviced it and repacked it" isn't going to get you onto the Sunday Times bestseller list but I still feel when writing a book about a piece of kit which essentially involves two trades to maintain, it's remiss to not even name one of those trades.
In my day Tornado seats were pulled every six months for servicing, of course other aircraft and nations might be different.
We serviced 'chutes with absolutely meticulous care, literally by the book in as much that if a supervisor walked by any the AP wasn't at the same point as the packing process then they'd expect you to start again. It didn't matter if it was the first or the fiftieth chute you'd packed.
I just think it's a shame you couldn't trust your readers enough to step back from the dramatic to give a bit of insight into that process.
Of course, I'm biased and tetchy because none of you growbags ever had the manners to use one of mine!
I spent several years undertaking seat changes, seat maintenance etc and did have the "satisfaction (?)" of once being thanked by a Lightning pilot (KM) who had been recovered from the North Sea. All of my colleagues (inc squippers) went about their work with pride in doing it all properly. However, none expected to see their names in lights, or print, or being praised for doing their jobs properly. John's book makes mention of them - that should be sufficient.