Originally Posted by
Exrigger
Cannot remember which Tornado unit I was on at the time, but some bright spark saw gearbox oil in the RAF supply network and being clever and resourceful decided that gearbox oil must be for vehicles and as the Army had control of vehicle consumables the item was duly transferred to Army control, so one less item to be stored and managed by the RAF supply chain.
On ordering some oil for the Wing Sweep Actuator Gearboxes for said Tornado I was informed that item was Army controlled and for vehicle use only, on asking who had decided this, no answer forthcoming, and were they aware that a Tornado aircraft was now grounded by this daft notion, silence from other end, it took a while for some clever people to try and get ground use oil back into the RAF supply chain so it could be issued and used for the only ‘vehicle’ it was used in.
It was a while ago so specifics might not be 100% but goes like this. Aircraft type that used to be based at Northholt, used the OEM-specified grease in the prop spinners. When they needed more, they just ordered more of that particular grease. One day ordering more, someone in the POL (?) IPT informs them that is not permitted. Units must to order a certain specification of grease and the IPT will determine the
cheapest most appropriate grease to procure. Protests of “manufacturer specifications etc” fell on deaf ears. They knew best, and were not to be told that they didn’t.
POL IPT procures grease according to spec. First prop spinner has a grease top up, short time later, engineer walking across hangar notices there is water dripping from the prop spinner. Investigation reveals OEM spec is a lithium-based grease, and the IPT procured a clay-based grease, because “it met the spec and was best value for money”. Lithium- and clay-based grease make water when mixed, which is ideal for use at FL nosebleed where the temp is renowned for being a teeny bit below zero.
And aircraft deployed at overseas location, based on a blindingly near-white concrete dispersal, eye wateringly bright in the sun, which was every day. Request sunglasses issue for engineers. Can’t have them, because “it’s not hot enough”. “Have you ever been skiing…?”. Engineers authorised locally to wear their own sunglasses, which pleasingly wound the army up immensely!