Global Aviation Magazine : 60 Years of the Hercules
Mal Drop,
Apologies if the icon causes offence, merely an attempt at humour regarding my enjoyment of night stops Goose Bay and the apparent experience of modern day civilian passengers. Perhaps I should refrain from posting anything using icons, I really don't like the thought of offending anyone I'm sure.
Smudge
Apologies if the icon causes offence, merely an attempt at humour regarding my enjoyment of night stops Goose Bay and the apparent experience of modern day civilian passengers. Perhaps I should refrain from posting anything using icons, I really don't like the thought of offending anyone I'm sure.
Smudge
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Frozen Star
What an aptly named Det that was. I would like to know the name of the "comfy" hotel the United crew stayed in, cos I can't think of one in Happy Valley. It was during the above named Det that Ksimboy, L** P***** and myself decided to save a few dollars and leg it from Trappers to the next bar through the snow in sub zero temps with a fierce wind chill. Although it was just a hundred yards or so I seriously believe that we wouldn't have made another 20. This was in parkas and not Caribbean beach wear. Before we had time to thaw out we were accosted by the Inuit party girls with the bear grease in the hair, demanding ciggies for the benefit of their company.
L** said very quietly "We are getting too old for this"
There are good times and not-so-good times anywhere, especially with TALCE.
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L** said very quietly "We are getting too old for this"
There are good times and not-so-good times anywhere, especially with TALCE.
.
Last edited by Dougie M; 14th Jun 2015 at 20:50. Reason: Sp
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Dougie, the wind chill only took it down to -45 i seem to recall. The TALCE days were happy times, apart from your sojourn with the AARC, at least i made up for it with your Scottac surprise present! The hotel opposite Trappers in Happy Valley was at one time quite pleasant to stay in, apart from the locals on Benefits day!
Gentlemen,
the problem with any form of non verbal/eye contact communication such as this thread is the inabilty to convey irony humour etc any any manner that is at all subtle. Emicons are at best a poor substitute and at worst the cause of many a misunderstanding. I for one never use them.
Keep the Goose /Gander stories coming.
the problem with any form of non verbal/eye contact communication such as this thread is the inabilty to convey irony humour etc any any manner that is at all subtle. Emicons are at best a poor substitute and at worst the cause of many a misunderstanding. I for one never use them.
Keep the Goose /Gander stories coming.
Brian,
I have always thought that this thread has striven to conform to the legal dictum of 'uberrima fides' and that posters on this thread at least are not out to forment discord. In the absence of incontoverible evidence to the contrary IMHO this should be the default view.
We once struggled into Gander in atrocious conditions because the stripper was due to perform at the newly opened 'Albert Ross. Alas we were doomed to disappointment. She was stuck in St Johns due to the same WX !
I have always thought that this thread has striven to conform to the legal dictum of 'uberrima fides' and that posters on this thread at least are not out to forment discord. In the absence of incontoverible evidence to the contrary IMHO this should be the default view.
We once struggled into Gander in atrocious conditions because the stripper was due to perform at the newly opened 'Albert Ross. Alas we were doomed to disappointment. She was stuck in St Johns due to the same WX !
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Goose Bay
A couple of Goose stories..............
In the late 70's we were tasked to fly to Goose Bay and sit on the ground for 4 days - in January. The reason for the long stay has slipped my memory but we did the standard winter arrival........taxy up to the hangar, get towed straight in and close the doors behind us.
Because we were going to be there for a while, we had to do the full Cold Weather briefing. This consisted of going to a store room in the hangar to get issued with the full Extreme Weather Kit (parka, mukluks, etc) followed by a safety chat given by one of the staff - a Chief Tech.
He told us to put all the kit on then took us on a tour outside the hangar. Before we went through the door, I noticed that he licked his fingers and wet the front of his hair. Outside, in a temp of minus lots, he showed us the Emergency Hangar Entry Points, emergency phones and other places we could get assistance if we needed it. The walk-around took about 10 mins by which time we were feeling the effects of the cold. We then re-entered and the Chief Tech took off his gloves, reached up to his hair and broke off a piece of the frozen section. He said, 'Just imagine if that was your pubes'.
Point taken!
On another visit, we walked into the Sgts Mess bar around 19.30. There were a few guys in there including a large, well dressed, Canadian gentleman. He was as drunk as a lord and falling off his stool. At around 19.50 he staggered out saying he would be back in 20 mins. No-one seemed surprised by this so we asked where he was going. The barman said, 'I'll show you' and switched the TV to a news channel.
On the hour the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) News was shown from Toronto then we were told to 'standby for the news bulletin from your part of Canada'. A message on the screen declared 'News from Labrador' and, to our astonishment, there was our drunk reading the news. For 5 mins he was word perfect then signed off. 10 mins later he was back in the bar, struggling to get on his stool.
The local TV studio was just along the tunnel from the Sgts Mess.
In the late 70's we were tasked to fly to Goose Bay and sit on the ground for 4 days - in January. The reason for the long stay has slipped my memory but we did the standard winter arrival........taxy up to the hangar, get towed straight in and close the doors behind us.
Because we were going to be there for a while, we had to do the full Cold Weather briefing. This consisted of going to a store room in the hangar to get issued with the full Extreme Weather Kit (parka, mukluks, etc) followed by a safety chat given by one of the staff - a Chief Tech.
He told us to put all the kit on then took us on a tour outside the hangar. Before we went through the door, I noticed that he licked his fingers and wet the front of his hair. Outside, in a temp of minus lots, he showed us the Emergency Hangar Entry Points, emergency phones and other places we could get assistance if we needed it. The walk-around took about 10 mins by which time we were feeling the effects of the cold. We then re-entered and the Chief Tech took off his gloves, reached up to his hair and broke off a piece of the frozen section. He said, 'Just imagine if that was your pubes'.
Point taken!
On another visit, we walked into the Sgts Mess bar around 19.30. There were a few guys in there including a large, well dressed, Canadian gentleman. He was as drunk as a lord and falling off his stool. At around 19.50 he staggered out saying he would be back in 20 mins. No-one seemed surprised by this so we asked where he was going. The barman said, 'I'll show you' and switched the TV to a news channel.
On the hour the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) News was shown from Toronto then we were told to 'standby for the news bulletin from your part of Canada'. A message on the screen declared 'News from Labrador' and, to our astonishment, there was our drunk reading the news. For 5 mins he was word perfect then signed off. 10 mins later he was back in the bar, struggling to get on his stool.
The local TV studio was just along the tunnel from the Sgts Mess.
My Newfie Nemisis was always Gander,
Arriving for the B/F to find the brakes leaking because of the temperature, was but one of the regular occurrences during the winter months. I believe that I spent more time in the RAFLO's office than in the Albert Ross, during my winter visits. A small sample is as follows, no icons I promise Mal Drop;
I was dispatched with the 6A crew to convey a Propellor and prop change team to Bermuda, where the SAGE, one E* B****m, route checking a newly hatched GE had gone "Tits" ! Now this was January/February and bloody cold on arrival for our night stop Gander en route. The Prop change team were great in helping me put Albert to bed, and we enjoyed a night on the town, with stretchy soup at Vera's (Pizza Delight), and some serious "screeching in". Next morning on start, our extended stay began. Number 3 Prop decided to ditch all of its hydraulic oil just after start. The ambient temperature was -28 and the crew were soon back down at the hotel. ATFOC had no worries, there was a spare prop at Gander, and we had a prop change team on board. Off we went.
To be fair, the RAFLO was superb, he arranged not only hot soup, but also had a polythene tent erected on the front of No3, heated by a 4 therm trolley that kept us fairly warm (the temperature never exceeding -18) doing the reconnects etc. it was the longest prop change I have ever been involved in, taking 14 hours of us all working 20 minutes outside 20 minutes inside to warm up. At the end of the prop change we were ready for the ground runs, but neither the prop change team chief or myself were happy about doing a High Power ground run, on ice, after 14 hours. We called the Captain, and he, and the Eng were more than happy to come to our assistance. He drove Albert to an out of use runway, where we jumped out and bunged some chocks in. One HP ground run followed. A good result and we were hot to trot first thing next morning. It was interesting that on jumping out to recover the chocks we had slid forward, pushing the chocks at least 50ft on the icy runway. At least we had a driver Airframe to control any break out from the chocks. Both the BLSS chief and myself were glad we weren't in the LH seat for the run. By the time we had put Albert to bed, none of us were too bothered about a taxi ride to the hotel, so once again gratefully accepted some warming soup, and crashed out in the RAFLOs office for the night. The trip to Bermuda next day was routine, and the broken down crew took our aircraft back to Lyneham. The prop change went to plan and we were ready to go within 12 hours of arrival, the Hotel beckoned.
The next morning, imagine our surprise when No1 Prop (not the one changed) dumped its contents through the rear GITZ ........
You can imagine the rest chaps, we've all been there haven't we ? 3 more days of hell in Bermuda awaiting the arrival of a replacement rear GITZ seal.
Smudge
Arriving for the B/F to find the brakes leaking because of the temperature, was but one of the regular occurrences during the winter months. I believe that I spent more time in the RAFLO's office than in the Albert Ross, during my winter visits. A small sample is as follows, no icons I promise Mal Drop;
I was dispatched with the 6A crew to convey a Propellor and prop change team to Bermuda, where the SAGE, one E* B****m, route checking a newly hatched GE had gone "Tits" ! Now this was January/February and bloody cold on arrival for our night stop Gander en route. The Prop change team were great in helping me put Albert to bed, and we enjoyed a night on the town, with stretchy soup at Vera's (Pizza Delight), and some serious "screeching in". Next morning on start, our extended stay began. Number 3 Prop decided to ditch all of its hydraulic oil just after start. The ambient temperature was -28 and the crew were soon back down at the hotel. ATFOC had no worries, there was a spare prop at Gander, and we had a prop change team on board. Off we went.
To be fair, the RAFLO was superb, he arranged not only hot soup, but also had a polythene tent erected on the front of No3, heated by a 4 therm trolley that kept us fairly warm (the temperature never exceeding -18) doing the reconnects etc. it was the longest prop change I have ever been involved in, taking 14 hours of us all working 20 minutes outside 20 minutes inside to warm up. At the end of the prop change we were ready for the ground runs, but neither the prop change team chief or myself were happy about doing a High Power ground run, on ice, after 14 hours. We called the Captain, and he, and the Eng were more than happy to come to our assistance. He drove Albert to an out of use runway, where we jumped out and bunged some chocks in. One HP ground run followed. A good result and we were hot to trot first thing next morning. It was interesting that on jumping out to recover the chocks we had slid forward, pushing the chocks at least 50ft on the icy runway. At least we had a driver Airframe to control any break out from the chocks. Both the BLSS chief and myself were glad we weren't in the LH seat for the run. By the time we had put Albert to bed, none of us were too bothered about a taxi ride to the hotel, so once again gratefully accepted some warming soup, and crashed out in the RAFLOs office for the night. The trip to Bermuda next day was routine, and the broken down crew took our aircraft back to Lyneham. The prop change went to plan and we were ready to go within 12 hours of arrival, the Hotel beckoned.
The next morning, imagine our surprise when No1 Prop (not the one changed) dumped its contents through the rear GITZ ........
You can imagine the rest chaps, we've all been there haven't we ? 3 more days of hell in Bermuda awaiting the arrival of a replacement rear GITZ seal.
Smudge
Null,
just picking up on your fuel gauge comments as I recall the early experience with those guages in the 'K' was interesting. Whilst I was on my 'K' OCU we had an engine wind down as we landed at Gib. Partly the fault of the student Air Eng but the gauges were as truthful as Pinoccio . As I recall the test equipment was either non existent or poorly calibrated and the groundcrew left to get on with it. We were instructed that a fuel tank had either to be full (and overwing visually checked) or empty when the a/c was refuelled.
This led to the set fuel loads with which we operated in the early days.
Oh yes and the 'twelve o'clock drop' !
just picking up on your fuel gauge comments as I recall the early experience with those guages in the 'K' was interesting. Whilst I was on my 'K' OCU we had an engine wind down as we landed at Gib. Partly the fault of the student Air Eng but the gauges were as truthful as Pinoccio . As I recall the test equipment was either non existent or poorly calibrated and the groundcrew left to get on with it. We were instructed that a fuel tank had either to be full (and overwing visually checked) or empty when the a/c was refuelled.
This led to the set fuel loads with which we operated in the early days.
Oh yes and the 'twelve o'clock drop' !
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Were you screening him then mate? 
Seriously, I remember doing something similar in Norway when I was screening a new arrival to 47 Sqn. We ended up dipping the tank with the Bass Broom handle to see if there was fuel in there. There was about 4 inches - so not long. That was the time when people used to 'gloss over' the fuel reconciliation sums - something that became second nature when flying commercially (in my experience anyway).
Then you could play the internal transfer to FULL and then pump a measured amount out into other tanks to balance (on the serviceable gauges). Deep joy
The "mythical" 12'o'clock drop 1,000 lbs, yep remember it well.
Seriously, I remember doing something similar in Norway when I was screening a new arrival to 47 Sqn. We ended up dipping the tank with the Bass Broom handle to see if there was fuel in there. There was about 4 inches - so not long. That was the time when people used to 'gloss over' the fuel reconciliation sums - something that became second nature when flying commercially (in my experience anyway).
Then you could play the internal transfer to FULL and then pump a measured amount out into other tanks to balance (on the serviceable gauges). Deep joy
The "mythical" 12'o'clock drop 1,000 lbs, yep remember it well.
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Brian,
I remember well how to move fuel. I did it often enough, as did we all. My comment was that if a STUDENT had caused an engine wind down by mishandling fuel why was he not corrected by a carefully monitoring screen.
I remember well how to move fuel. I did it often enough, as did we all. My comment was that if a STUDENT had caused an engine wind down by mishandling fuel why was he not corrected by a carefully monitoring screen.
Alison C,
when I did the 'K' OCU your instructor had probably completed the course before you ! It applied to ALL the aircrew trades. No one knew much about the a/c at this time especially how many porkies the gauges could tell.
We had several OCU streams at Thorney all at the same time.
The learning curve for all was very steep.
when I did the 'K' OCU your instructor had probably completed the course before you ! It applied to ALL the aircrew trades. No one knew much about the a/c at this time especially how many porkies the gauges could tell.
We had several OCU streams at Thorney all at the same time.
The learning curve for all was very steep.
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Brian,
I remember well how to move fuel. I did it often enough, as did we all. My comment was that if a STUDENT had caused an engine wind down by mishandling fuel why was he not corrected by a carefully monitoring screen.
I remember well how to move fuel. I did it often enough, as did we all. My comment was that if a STUDENT had caused an engine wind down by mishandling fuel why was he not corrected by a carefully monitoring screen.
The 'method' was for other readers, not ex FEs.
Oh dear . . .
Perhaps I'll give this thread a miss, it's getting a bit too intense.
Last edited by Brian W May; 17th Jun 2015 at 16:28. Reason: Afterthoughts . . .
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