Worst aircraft

[AVGASANDY]

Whats the worst type of aircraft you have had the pleasure of maintaining? and why.
The one for me is a italian partanavia, engines set back into wing so lots of cursing on 500hr mag overhaul and any overhauls to cylinders 3 & 4.
Please let me know yours i would like to know.
All the best
Avgasandy

[woderick]

Comet, the epitome of British Aircraft at it’s best for the Engineer.
Don’t know but I’ll wager that the pencil is a pretty fair effort as well.

[Cat1234]

Turbo Commander, 19 fuel tanks, dud pressurisation system, ridiculous gear, no space in the cabin, terrible access in the tail, books? what books?

[Bus429]

The HS 748 has to be one of the worst.

[rwm]

F-28. Just about anything you may need to take off has had the A/C built around it. And the fire walls surounding the twinpack on the Bell 212/412.

[fruitloop]

BAE146 !! If you have ever had the pleasure(misfortune)to change a flap control unit you will know what I'm talking about !!

[rwm]

Fruitloop how about a leading edge on the h-stab, or any part of the interior. I think the interior was designed by three diferent people who didn't talk to each other, as the bulkheads are all diferently secured. Also they had lousy engines. Bae stood for bring another engine. But the old 146 was a solid machine.

Ever change an APU in a Dash 8, or elevator trim cable.

Bleed air duct in a F-28. Rig flaps in an F-28 can not be done by the book. You will never get the cable tension within limits.

But the real lousy job I have had to do a few times is change a twin pack in a Bell 212/412. What were they thinking?

How about the airstair in a 737. Not fun. Changing bladder tank in a 727-100, could be the death of someone.

[fruitloop]

rwm Agree with the f-28,even the stab actuator couldn't be done by the book,another one for the 727-200 were the stupid pre-coolers in the pylon,changing the fish plates in the wing centre section and then rigging the gust-lock on the F27,BAE 146 (one aisle,four engines,needs six)The 737 airstairs were a pain but I recon the DC-9 was more of a nightmare.Sounds like the Bell is a bit like the Sikorsky !!The trick I discovered (if the right sealant was used)for removing the leading edges was to use a hairdryer and start at the inboard end.I had to many (heated)discusions with BAE in the late 80's and early 90's regards systems ops (including MELS)so it has to be my most hated !!
Cheers

[Kanga767]

Fairchild Metroliner!

[Blacksheep]

Aah, that'd be the Shorts Belfast - not an aircraft as such, more of an aeronautical contrivance.

The design engineers were dressed in straight-jackets and driven from the asylum to the office every morning. We used to imagine them sitting chained to their drawing boards, giggling hysterically all day as they dreamed up yet more and more peculiar systems and odd equipment locations, to bamboozle the production line and maintenance men. I'm sure they would have put in flapping wings if they could have got away with it.

I was amazed when Heavylift decided they could operate the abominable contraption as a commercial venture and stay in business...

**************************
Through difficulties to the cinema

[John (Gary) Cooper]

:}
From an engine bods point of view, try the all leaking Twin Pioneer or much on the same lines the Pembroke/sea Prince.

For me, the best were Canberras and Meatboxes

[AVGASANDY]

Did you ever meet Alan the man with the hook on the end of his arm, when we got our 360s we got him sent from Shorts to give advice on the engineering side of the aircraft.
allright bloke wonder what he is doing now?
cheers
Avgasandy

[Coriolis]

F28, mostly crap & filthy (inside ctr section outboard tanks, anyone?)
146 quaint but fiddly (inside ctr section tanks, anyone?)

Agreed re 212 twin pac, but 58T twin pac no better (eng fuel filter in yer face, anyone?)

Top of the sH/T pile has to be anything rotary out of la belle france (books cost HOW much, for inaccurate, badly written techno babble?):mad:

[Bus429]

OK, so maybe the '748 is not the worst!
Blacksheep, I worked on the Belfast in the mid-80s when Heavylift were restoring G-HFLT. I remember loads of space, especially in the wing root/fairing area. Working on the electrical equipment in the cabin required a long ladder.:ok:

[four_two]

BAC111, without a doubt!
Cramped,dirty noisy. And why do so many jobs entail standing on slippery main u/c doors with skydrol everywhere? So many variants too. :*

[skydozer]

DH Devon/Dove for me! arrghhh ........ Dash 8 102 APU was almost as bad, the fwd bulkhead on the 146 freighter would also rate.

[guysg]

Working for Her Majestys airlines the most painful thing was a "Spark Plug" change on a Shakleton, I believe 24 cylinders and something like 4 plugs per cyclinder. All had to be change apparently at one go. And the eyeballs really turned inwards if all four engines had to be done!

[John (Gary) Cooper]

:yuk:

The Griffon on a Shack, drop one plug into the Vee Block and you spent the rest of the day trying to fish it out, worst still was working on a P&W Twin Wasp on a Sunderland on the water and drop one, tinkle, tinkle splash! :{

[force_ale]

The Wessex, and I miss her.:{

[reracked.au]

If I may indulge. 74series. Body gear steering position switch. 0300, in the rain with a torch that wont stay put anywhere other than between the teeth. Joy.

[Perrin]

Try bottom jug replacement on a R3350 compound engine (Connie) in the dark in pi----- rain, those lockclips on the cylinder
were invented by a nutter.

[FNQTech]

Bristol Freighter - esp changing exhaust stubs.
DC10 Leading Edge Slat cables (loved the rest of the aircraft though)
Anything on a Devon
Metro engine control cable change (under the cockpit floor)

[the egg man]

b757 door mechanism bearing replacement ,what a night mare, has to be done nearly every c-check on at least 2 doors.
you also need need hands of a baby to get through the small access holes.
also changing the r/h engine P R S O V.with the special pri-bar tool.
apart from that not a bad kite....
b737 classic inbd flap boom cables ,tring to figure out how it fits around the pulley system,always a good job for the new boy in the hangar.

[asheng]

Lets be honest here,

Any aircraft that you are working on at 2 o'clock in the morning in the freezing cold and the rain driving at you with that trickle that drops down your collar,right down your spine and makes you feel totally ticked off has got to be the worst.

It really doesnt matter who makes it at that time or what the job entails I can say from experiance you will not want to be there doing it and wont relish the fact this is what we all do for a living.

But it is and we do,at times it like trying to thread a needle,in the shower and blindfolded.Personally I think this should be a fundemental part of any apprenticship in this business as you can be sure it will happen to you when you are older.

To spice it up a bit when practising get someone to keep ringing you mobile phone or asking you when you will be finished (Whilst drinking a coffee in front of you).If you can cope with this you will make an admirable engineer and there are lots of lads out there that do this every day/night of the week.Keep it up lads

[Flying Mechanic]

Learjet 45 cable changes!!Pain the A%&e!!Ony Bombardier would install fairleads that wear the cables !!

[rwm]

I'm intimately familiar with the cnt tanks on the F28. The stupid little snaps that are just out of arms reach. BAE146 cnt tank feels like you are lying on your head as you go in, but had ok room inside. 727-100 cnt tank will kill someone if it hasn't already. The access hole is too small, and is half blocked by the aircon duct. And I hate to lace the tanks. I rather F28 snaps, just wish I had longer arms. C130 Bladder tanks aren't bad, lots of room. I came close to death in a 737-200 wing tank trying to get to the MLG casting. I got stuck, had my light break, and my mask got a leak. My manager told me to go in through the wing root access, I told him I wanted to go in through the centre tank access, but he didn't want to have the A/C defueled. He knew best. Ha Ha. Ended up doing it my way, because I refused to do it any other way. I also once got my head wedged between some ribs in the outbrd tank of a C130, and had to get a couple of guys to pull me out.

[whatbolt]

The dialogue of this story needs to be done in fairly broad Yorkshire brogue. The man that said it is not a youngster and was my Station Engineer in the 70s his initials are JS. I was whingeing about a job and he took a few seconds to adjust my attitude. He said look here-when I saw a 1-11 for the first time I didnt just see an airoplane - I saw a Ouse. When I saw a VC-10 for the first time I didnt just see an airoplane I saw a detached Ouse with a river in the garden. When I saw a Tri-Star I saw a B---dy great mansion in 3 acres with a river in the garden and a Golf course around it. 737 airstairs are not that bad as long as you are not on your own of course.

[mikeboggan]

Nothing can beat the F111,
I don't know how they managed to get the skin on.
Park one and 10 minutes later there are puddles of oil and fuel everywhere

[bellsux]

Hughes 500... 500 reasons not to work on one. S76 how many screws do you really need for the cowlings??? but I got to love those AS350 Squirrels, easiest helicopter to ever work on!

[dogs body]

Whoever thought of those Raychem connectors on the 146 wants neck shooting at birth, My vote....Jetstream 31 bloody 'orrible contraptions, my back still hurts from replacing the windshield heating controllers :{

[Ethel the Aardvark]

BAE 146 windscreen wash solenoids, I will have my bottom ribs taken out (mick Jagger style) for next time I have to do it

[GAZIN]

I agree with four_two, the 1,11 was terrible, almost every job, but especially the csds & the bleed air duct in the stub wing.
The worst thing about the Belfast was the absence of anchor nuts, just 4BA loose nuts everywhere. The 146 is not good either, the duct from the fresh air louvres fan, under the rear floor sticks in my mind.

S.B.

[the egg man]

i heard that the BAE-ATP was also a bit of a nightmare, any horror's on that please tell us.

[Perrin]

I will start on the ATP before all the rest of the guys jump in.
High on the list has got to be the heated intake duct for what passes for an engine. OVER TO YOU BOYS

[laurieg]

Has anyone ever tried working of Harrier GR 7? If you have you will know that whoever designed the thing forgot about engineers. The GR 7A is even worse with about 1" either side to get an engine in and no room to work unless you are very snake like!:{

[codpiece face]

Wirelocking the slats on a 757 after rigging them is a bit of a chioce job as is the pack flow control valve on the A320 , i would love to meet the person that decided to put it on top of the pack.

[snickers]

Saab 340 park brake cable, I wouldn't wish that job on anyone. Oh, and anything relating to the bleed air/ anti- icing ducting on a F100, my particular fave being the PRSOV in the stub wing.

[talklink]

Any a/c with a faulty toilet:{

[Perrin]

Oh yes fwd toliet tank replacement on a L1011 must be also done in Saudia during the day to get the full effect, did two
never forgoten.

[allthatglitters]

"as is the pack flow control valve on the A320 , i would love to meet the person that decided to put it on top of the pack."

codpiece face

Try attacking it from the front, along the supply duct, instead of bellow, make's life a whole lot easier.

The BAC 1-11, Jacking it to work in the Pack Bay's, doing anything in the stub duct area. 2 small noise generators at the rear.

[fixa24]

what about slat sensors on a b737?????

[sprocket]

Not the whole A/C, but just a small part. The early Dash 8 with the retractable APU inlet door.

Changed the door on one and had to detach the APU away from its mountings far enough to remove the intake duct on the inside to get to the door attach hardware.
(And that is a very condensed description)

At least later versions did away with the APU door!

[nonni66]

Definately the JT3 hushkitted version used on the 707. simple jobs like changing oil filter took several hours.

[Velcroworm]

Any series Learjet, they're all badly designed and cheaply made.
Oh, and the Falcon 20 deserves a place in hell too

.:8

[SeldomFixit]

My guess is that right now, 1 particular guy thinks a B747F with a retracted NLG in DXB thinks it's the worst one he's ever had. Not a snipe just a reality bite.

[ScotiaQ]

Westland Whirlwind Mk 7 - with Alvis Leonides Major Engine (Double Bank Radial Engine). Try doing a plug change after a mag. drop. Common occurrence but 2 plugs per cylinder. Bell 212 Twinpac is a breeze after that.

[AVGASANDY]

Just to say thankyou for your replys very interesting reading.
Did not expect so much feed back.
well best regards all and a very happy christmas and new year
Avgasandy

[jetfueldrinker]

:O F4 with Speys gets my vote. Nothing in the right place, old and heavy. Access? What access? Everything was underneath the aircraft, and the good old RAF refuelling hoses that you needed to somehow get to the awkward refuelling points are, I'm sure, the cause of more back problems than the knives jabbed between the shoulders by certain individuals who claimed to be Phantom Phixers. But who cares, not only are they retired now, but so am I:p :D ;)

[bbbaldy]

I think the 747 any series, they are just too big, too much of everything.

[Flying Mech]

Hi Guys. Removing & Reinstalling the Midfairing above the JT8 Engine on B737-200 for Structural inspection of Lwr Wing Skin Pylon Area comes to mind as one of the worst jobs I have ever done, with all those hiddenfastners at the front end that you can barely see with a mirror/torch etc. Also replacing Pneumatic Duct Ovht/Leak Det Firewires on A300B4's in the wing root through the Eng Pylon can be next to impossible.

Cheers & Happy Christmas to All!
Flying Mech

[Skunkie]

B747 100,200,and other with motorization that is not Rolls royce or General Electric are questionable.
Expecially 'cos they are too old.
personally I don't like CFM motorixation, but I leave the choice to pilots and engenieers.
B747, in my opinion is the best aircraft ever made.
What about b777 (two engines only) and the awful , hope will never fly, Airbus A380!!!!!

I don't like french aircraft....pc overcomes pilot decision and this is awful!!!!

Best aircraft ever made is B707 and DC8 43 and 62...I'm a lil bit old-fashioned, but I think that these are the bedt machine ever constructed.

brgrds

Skunkie

Well another thing...B737-200 (on which I flew) is limited for the rumors, but the engine are much more better then all the 300,400,700,800.........the performances are much more safe, both for the reverse system and for the problems connectet with N1 and N2.
Explain me if you have different ideas!

Skunkie

[comfortview]

one of the "muckyest" jobs has to be the nose bay blankets on the DC-9's. NLG bay just acts like a big dust collector and add a little water and pure muck!!!:{

[Propflop]

Blacksheep, you should of been around in the 70,s working on the good old Belslow. A very nice stairway to get to the galley. Lots of nice access to all the equipment in the racks. Really was a nice a/c to work on inside. But then again I was a Nav Insty at the time.