aa62
Regarding the harsh Korean winters, my one and only visit to that place was (I believe) in March when on a 48 Sqdn North Pacific trainer from Changi.
As the senior SVC for the trip (prior to the invention of the Ground Engineer), I had diligently carried out a route prep inspection on the chosen frame on the day prior to departure: I was just a little peeved to find we had been given a different frame for the trip when we arrived at 48 servicing control on the morning of departure.
The replacement frame was blessed with plenty of hours available for the trip but was otherwise a heap of junk, with several Acceptable Deferred Defects (ADDs) and some OOPS (Out of Phase Servicing) items including magnetic plug checks on the engines and prop oil levels to be checked while down the route. There were also several ominous entries in the F700 that hinted of a recent history of fuel gauge problems.
We arrived at Kimpo not long before sunset. Due to an ADD on a defective refuelling valve in the right hand external tank, and the lack of a volunteer from the aircrew, I was the guy selected (by me
) to open-line refuel the said tank. As the sun sank from the sky, the ambient air temp fell rapidly southward accompanied by a chilling breeze. Being incorrectly dressed for this sudden change in weather I decided to raid the infamous Arctic Pack for a Parka jacket. Imagine my joy on discovering they were all SMALL sized, whereas I was (still am!) a 'portly 40-something' in clothing store parlance.
The crew had departed to the comparative warmth of the ops/met/coffee bar with the captain wearing my service issue tie - I believe he still has it.
On the return leg from Guam our overnight stop was Yokota (Saturday night!). Here, the dreaded fuel gauge history caught up with us. The ever-helpful USAF ramp controller offered the assistance of a 'gauge man' who promptly asked me whereabout in the cargo compartment had we moved the fuel gauge test sockets! When told these were non-existent in the K, he offered his apologies and left us to it.
Signals between our driver and the folks who lived on the hill at Changi followed, as the aforesaid driver tried to negotiate a clearance to route back to Changi via Clark Field in the Phillipines
, in order to circumvent some of the gauge problems. At some stage during the negotiations, the squadron commander became involved and (allegedly) politely invited our driver to get his a$$ back to base without further ado. Needless to say, on returning to Eastern Dispersal, the F700 was duly annotated to reflect the latest chapter in the fuel gauge saga.