Ahh wub, that must be the "Cyprus" runaway. AA62, as for the opened cowls in Fiji, up there on the donk, he's interested in engine oil, or if its a stopper, might be scoping it up for a valve housing change (just a guess, there's lots of bits up there, where was the speed sense switch ?). Coff, you naughty chap, if there's baked spuds up there, they are his, not the crews !!! For my part
I never enjoyed a breakdown, and would never contemplate fabricating one, and it would have been very easy. As the Aircrew had an ethic of getting the job done, so did the Aircraft Ground Engineer. I will relate a route I "enjoyed" whilst on R&R from GW1, if you will indulge me, and pull up a sandbag.
I had been " in theatre" in the Gulf for around two months, and a fortnight before VC10'd home, as a result of an airborne accident that caused me a few problems. Anyway, I'm in the married quarter, convalescing, when "the boss" phones. Smudge lad, I need someone to do a very gentle trip to San Francisco and back, I'm desperate, will you do it ? Hang on, he said San Francisco, I would have said yes if I had been mummified. So, the trip is to pick up the first batch of some new Sidewinders, that our "allies" had agreed to let us have. Off we go, and night stop St Johns, flag Offutt for Travis and 33 on the ground. And the arrival at Travis, also ended any thought I might have had of ever seeing San Francisco outside of a television screen. We landed with a duff Cargo pack FCSOV, and a couple of other "minor irritants. The bits were fixed quickly, and, as I had a ranger pack, a FCSOV was available. No probs, until I dismantled the buggers muddle on the aircraft. The top Clamp on the FCSOV had a stripped thread and was leaking badly, it's associated sealing gasket was fitted out of place and almost in half from previous "tweaking" of the clamp. I need a new clamp (I had a spare gasket). No problem says I, this is the home of C141 starlifters, during my time as a GE I have "loaned" a couple of bits of Albert to help them out, so they must have the clamp I need, mustn't they ????
I wandered, lonely, as only a tired Brit can (apologies Mr Wordsworth) around this huge facility, and eventually found a hangar with people in it. Once they stopped pointing guns at me, the Air Police allowed me to visit the stores in the hangar, thankfully you may remember that on Albert we used a FSN(Federal Stock Number) to identify our spares, not the Section and Reference (26DL etc (AKA sexual Preference)) of the standard British Aircraft. For once, that actually worked, and the USAF stackers identified my clamp, they had one, at Edwards AFB. Long story short, The USAF were, as I always found, magnificent in their willingness to assist our departure from their bases, and duly had the required bit flown in on a UC12B.
I was doing the final turn on the new clamp as the crew arrived, well Eng and Loady, the "Royals" were off at the BX, then flight planning. As we needed to leak test the joints replaced I asked the Eng to run the GTC and on a long lead up on the RH side of the aircraft, we co ordinated the tests. That's when I met this chap.
He decided to bite me in the crook of my left arm, and it hurt like a bugger, I reacted by swiping it off, but it's sting stayed attached and kept pumping. Never mind Smith, get on with it, so we did, and by the time the front end arrived we were hot to trot. I had managed around 4 hours sleep in the 33 on the ground, and never got off base. I had a smashing present from the front end on their return though. A tea shirt, with a follically challenged chap with the inscription "it's not a bald spot, its a solar panel for a sex machine". (I did a straight swap of this with a very good looking BA trolley dolly in Barbados about a year later, another "bargain"). My hammock was most welcome. So off we went, the plan, flag Offutt for Gander night stop, then home. On landing at Offutt, the Loady woke me up in my Hammock, and I had probs. My left arm had done an "Incredible Hulk" and doubled in size, I was struggling to breathe and a bit shakey on my legs. Now, I know you Aircrew bods, and understand your already thinking " standard GE" but not so, The Nav took pity, and insisted that I go with him to see the flight surgeon, our Captain agreed, and he and the Co went off to flight plan the leg to Gander. The Flight Surgeon Grounded me for 24 Hours, in fact he wanted to hospitalise me, but I avoided that. Knowing that the crew could probably manage through Gander, and most likely get support from other GEs in transit, I was most surprised when the Captain returned from phoning "Fatcock" and told us we were to wait until The GE was cleared to fly, before flagging Gander for Lyneham. The nightstop was one of the worst I experienced. Pumped with all sorts of stuff, my first beer saw me keel over and with that crew earning a reputation as a "wooftah" when it came to drinking. On the way home it became clear that Offutt offered nowhere near the delights of Gander, and it was all my fault. Of course, I was mostly concerned that the crew had enjoyed their time in San Francisco, particularly their visit to fishermans wharf etc.
Sorry for the long post chaps, after the nasturtiums cast on breakdowns in convenient places I felt the urge to show it wasn't always thus. In fact, we really should admire the pre GE days, when the whole crew were roped in to "ground technical" problems. For the record, we flagged Gander for Lyneham the next day, a very favourable tailwind meant we actually arrived back at Lyenham 2.6 hours late. My only impression of San Francisco to this day is the chase scene in Bullit. But I would have traded the 33 off any day for a night stop Fiji. Keep those pictures coming chaps, especially the light stone/ dark earth finish ones.
Smudge
