As I sit here on a quiet Sunday evening, my mind goes back a few years, and I see a tale, from a non aircrew viewpoint that might be of interest. For those who have no time, and for my longevity on it, I apologise, but a true story it is;
The Canadian Jobby
Off we went on a simple trip to Calgary, via St Johns (Newfie, but I didn't need to tell you lot that). As I recall, during the descent in to St Johns, the Co, who was doing the approach noticed a rather large clunk and kick back through the rudder pedals. The Captain took control, and experienced the same "kick" and clunk going through the neutral line of the rudder range of movement. In anticipation that it would not reproduce itself on the ground, I actually was invited to sit in the Co's seat to experience it for myself, it was very obvious. First things first, the A Team put Albert on the ground with a view to sorting it out. After Landing, myself and the Flight Engineer, if he follows PPRUNE he will remember this route, spent some time investigating. At first we suspected the Rudder booster pack was snubbing, then we hit each other around the head because snubbing is a function at the extremities of travel, not mid range. So, I acquired a safety raiser, removed a panel, and looked inside the "ducks bill" area.
I will try to keep it simple. The output rod from the rudder booster pack to the rudder lower operating lever is supported by a triangular piece of structure, obviously designed in that manner to maintain rigidity. As the Engineer operated the Rudder (we dropped the lever and ran it off the Aux pump) I watched as every rivet holding that bit of structure together wobbled loosely in its hole. A passing Flt Engineer (T Le C) had a look and joined me in considering an Eng Rep was in order. In fact his opinion would be well and truly "edited" by the mods on this site.
Following the eng rep, I phoned Lyneham Ops to speak directly with the duty Eng Ops Flight Sergeant, who on answering offered all the help one might expect from someone who has just had his pizza break disturbed. I was informed, in no uncertain manner that C130s do not go U/S down route, with structural problems (this bloke took a similar attitude on a later snag in Portugal, where he threatened me with career ending repercussians and OC Eng, perhaps something for another post) and I could safely ignore it. Luckily, the Eng Rep had also arrived at FATCOCK who decided that a replacement rudder booster pack and two "rigger" corporals would appear in St Johns the next morning. I asked for the equipment to replace the loose rivets in the support structure, which I was sure was causing the "lumpiness" in the rudder system. Somehow, the lads, the replacement booster pack and the rivet gun arrived, minus the oversize rivets I needed. Now, all GEs know that if you want something to mend your Albert, you can usually find it if you beg, so off I went, and actually found the oversize rivets I needed. We replaced the rudder booster pack, and even without the flight loading, still had the clunk. One by one we replaced the loose rivets, and blow me, the support structure regained its rigidity, and the clunk disappeared. By now we had worked 16 hours straight, the two Corporals straight off shift, an 8 hour flight and 16 hours mending. The Lineys were true gold. We were fixed and ready to go, 24 hours delay, and hot to trot as the crew arrive.
By now, I had spoken directly to the FATCOCK Eng controller, and having discussed our task he agreed that the two lads should be sent to the hotel, and would recover with our aircraft on the way back in two days time. So off we set for Calgary. I feel sorry for the Air Eng, Paul K, who I was pleased to meet again later in life. But we landed at Calgary on three engines having had No 2 prop go daft and overswinging beyond limits. So, a prop change. Paul and I did all the prep before going to the hotel, for the prop change team, who would arrive in 2 days, and I eventually saw a hotel room three days after leaving Lyneham. With a day off, I enjoyed a lie in, a couple of hours doing the tourist tick, and a few beers with the crew. Next day, the prop change team arrived, and we did the job. Ground runs and all ready to go, surprisingly we were given a night off again, before departure. The plan now, night stop St Johns for Lyneham, collecting two rigger Cpls on the way through (they would get back just in time to be on shift). On arriving at St Johns, only one of the two Cpls was in evidence, and as they were both blokes I had worked on shift with, I was concerned for the missing man. According to the one I found the other had met someone, night one, and not been seen since. Now, as I was a neighbour of this bloke on the patch, and knew him and his family well, I was taken aback a bit. However, as the night went on we managed to contact him, and convince him that it would be in his interest to attend our departure the next morning. He did, and he went on to both divorce his wife and marry the girl he met in St Johns, and, also became a C130 AGE.
A simple 4 day trip turned in to a week long nightmare. I suspect almost every ex GE, and possibly current ones can relate to this, it was bad news for me, goodness knows what the crew thought. From a GEs point of view, any snag on a route like this could mean you missed doing the Australia trip you were scheduled for after your day off at home. Thankfully it was not typical (apart from the Portugal unscheduled jobby) and Albert was basically a very reliable aircraft from an Engineering support point of view. I apologise for the long winded dialogue, I'm sure though that many Albert operators have had similar experiences.
Smudge
