Coff,
Good question, and I'm sure many more experienced than myself will be along with tales of derring do. All I can offer, which might possibly approach your query would be as follows;
Myself and a fellow Ground Engineer had been allocated to ASCOT 4502 departing LYN on 8 October 1994. The aircraft was the splendid XV210, which I had coincidentally completed a Bruggen/Aldergrove banner run in, two days prior to the "big trip". The only other thing worthy of note was that our Navigator was a gentleman of genuine professionalism, and needs no further "gollying" to. Off we set, and the route, as I recall gave us night stops at a Mediterranean place with kebabs, somewhere along the way we had to run through a jungle, with real insects and animals, to win a beer, and eventually our (for me at least) first landfall in the land of Ned Kelly, Darwin. The purpose of the route was to recover the remnants of the Nimrods, Fincastle trophy detachment, and returns it to Kinloss. The plan was,on reaching Darwin, to fly to Adelaide, load up and recover via Darwin to points north.
As we had travelled South, we had experienced a continuous leak of hydraulic fluid from the No2 propellor. It remained a fairly constant loss rate, and with betwixt flight replenishment offered no hazard to our continued progression. Things were about to change. The crew, particularly our Flight Engineer, a young lady who was exceptionally competent, were aware of the leak on No2 prop, and the limitations in leg duration it imposed on us. For my fellow GE and myself, it added an hour or so to the After flight servicing each night, both cleaning down the cowlings and rear engine nacelles, and re establishing the full level of the prop. The only other "must" we had to consider was that the Captain had told us, in no uncertain terms, that he had to be back at Lyneham, on time, as he had unmissable commitments.
The leg from Darwin to Adelaide was long, but normal, from the point of view of those of us who "commanded" the progress of the route
from our hammocks down the back. On our descent to Adelaide, the Eng noted a swing on No2 prop that exceeded the permitted 1%. She duly informed us on landing, and we ensured that we would "look at it", after we had bedded Albert down for the night. On examination, No2 Engine had a really good covering of OM15, and on checking contents had lost more than double the loss rate we had noted during previous legs. We also noted that the reported prop swing had exceeded acceptable norms, on a 6 hour leg as I recall (Doug ?). Anyway, between us, TT and myself worked out that the fault causing the leak was our old friend the rear GITZ seal. Replacement of the seal involved the removal of the propellor, replacement of the seal and the refitment of the prop. As usual, we GEs did not have a spare seal, prop sling or crane, and needed to consider our return to Lyneham. Certainly, legs exceeding 6 hours were planned, possibly leading to the shutdown of No2, and our subsequent request for recovery in places exotic. Or we had an option. Now, a couple of Chief Techs in this situation, and unable to contact the crew in the hotel (probably due to their already doing an ASCOT shuffle) must do the best they can, so, we phoned Eng Ops at RAAF Richmond and spoke to the duty Eng O. Explained our situation, and he immediately offered to facilitate a team and all the required equipment to repair No2 prop, our arrival the next day was OK'd and we, on behalf of our Captain accepted the offer. The next phone call was to FATCOCK, informing them of our situation, the resolution that we, the GEs had found, and asked for their "guidance". The Richmond plot is approved they said, a 1 hour transit next morning, and a 24 delay on the route would put us back on track. Our arrival in the hotel bar, and informing our Captain of the itinerary for tomorrow was not received with good grace, as I recall, and his phone call to FATCOCK to cancel such plans was turned down, as he could not refute the prop leak. The next morning, we flew to Richmond, a team of Aussie sumpies met us and helped us remove the prop, replace the seal, refit the prop and carry out full post prop change EGRs. 14 hours, and my only glimpse of Sydney, where the crew spent their 24 off, was between 2300 and 0500 local. I enjoyed it though. And there's your, how do we deal with bent Albert in exotic locations Coff. Find the nearest, Albert unit (whatever the nationality) and ask for help.
To finish this lengthy missive (for which my apologies gentlemen, I understand the short attention span of trained aircrew) we departed Richmond, fully serviceable, having been given a new itinerary which involved a night stop Darwin, then a progression North. Both of us GEs welcomed the N/S Darwin, as a break, away from an airfield, but we're gobsmacked when on awaking the next day, we were informed that our Air Eng had been grounded with a medical problem (another 24 hour minimum delay). As I recall, an enjoyable day off was taken, with a round of golf and a few bevvies by several of us. We eventually headed back home, with the final victim of the route being myself, who ended up grounded by the medics at Akronelli, with a chest virus, that stopped me getting home for a further 4 days. Thankfully TT was still fit and the aircraft eventually arrived back at Lyneham, complete with one GE. You will all be glad to know that I am off for a couple of weeks to Scotland for a change to Wiltshire, I will as always only eat the Haggis with the shorter left legs, but retain full control of my distillery selections. Best to all, and keep posting gentlemen.
Smudge
PS. Just read a book on Kindle, Not a natural Pilot, by Laurie Tallack. Some interesting insights to Albert, particularly reading stuff that perhaps should have conformed to the unwritten down route rules ? Anyone else have an opinion ? Perhaps I am the last one who should criticise !