What's Your Problem
benq
Sorry to take so long to respond. Computer problems and family commitments have stopped me getting a reply to your questions posted any sooner. You asked if I am AH management.
Answer is no.
I won't say too much because I don't want my opinions mis-construed as anything other than just that - my opinion. Yes I do have a connection with Australian but it is not what I think you're implying and certainly not one that would make me post just to support the company. After nearly 30 years in the industry I've got "connections" in lots of places. I know most of the AH staff on Horn Island so this thread piqued my interest enough that I made a couple of phone calls. The things that I was told were relevent to the direction this thread was taking and I reported in my earlier post what I was told. There is nothing more to it.
I didn't post just to get into a pissing contest with you benq, but the general tone of your last post on this thread is an absolute insult to everyone that was involved in the heavy.
"Obviously the Redcliff boys know what they are doing and the A/H boys don't"........"Is that what you are saying skid shoe?"
Bloke you need to read my first post again. Those are your words champ - not mine. Don't try to put them into my mouth. I hope that one of the AH engineers knows who you are and gives you a black eye. You deserve it for a statement like that.
Those people, both Redcliff and AH alike, planned carefuly, worked bloody long hours and maintained a very high standard of workmanship right throughout the heavy. They deserve any praise that I gave them and probably more. I was able to see the job they did on RHJ over the last few days that the machine was at Redcliff. I was blown away that they still had so much enthusiasm for the task after 5 or 6 weeks of 11 or even 14 hour days, 7 days a week. The only reason Australian were able to get their 412 back on line so fast was that they managed to put together a dammed fine team of just the right people.
benq, you go on to talk about corrosion and cracks in the M/R head. If you know that they found corrosion then can I assume assume that you would know what was done about it? How bad was the corrosion? Was it within limits? Were the engineers able to blend out the corrosion and treat the area IAW the aircraft manuals or an approved repair scheme? Have Australian put an inspection in place to monitor the corrosion area? or do they even need to?
OR ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE AN ORDINARY MAINTENANCE EVENT THAT WAS REACTED TO APPROPRIATELY OUT TO BE SOMETHING IT IS NOT?
As for the head being dropped. Mate that was a couple of years and close enough to 3000 hours ago. The head was inspected iaw all the right manuals and advice from Bell at the time. During the 5000 hr inspection just done, the head was sent to Helitech for O/H. That includes crack testing does it not. The old china plate running Helitechs O/H shop doesn't miss much. I doubt that there is a better man anywhere to do that sort of work. If he is prepaired to release the head then there is nothing wrong with it. Again I'll ask ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE THINGS OUT TO BE SOMETHING THEY ARE NOT?
benq, reading back over this and various other threads that you have started or posted to, it is obvious that you have some real issues with Australian. I think that you have let your bitterness cloud your view. The over all tone of many of your posts is anti-AH but I think that this is the first time that you have actually attacked the boys and girls on the floor. You want AH to do better than you perceive them doing so far and yet when they do, you sink to new lows and attack the staff at the coal face. There are some pretty good people on the floor at Australian. They deserve better than the crap you are chucking their way. Keep having a go at Australians management if you must. I agree that they have brought a lot of it on themselves - BUT LEAVE THE STAFF ALONE.
Take what I have said here as constructive criticism. I don't know who you are (although I probably do know you - maybe even shared a beer or two outside the units at YHID). And I don't know your motivations, but if you continue to post the way that you have here, then the credability of anything you say is questionable. Why don't you enlighten us a little and tell us all why you are down on AH in such a big way.
skid shoe
PS: This will probably be my last post on rotorheads. The forum belongs to you pilots and engineering is my game. I'll go and play in my own forums.