I Told Ya So

So yesterday I had a feeling it was going to be a bad day. Well I had some personal news early on that seemed to frame the rest of the day and it went downhill from there. Its funny how it happens that way but let me layout the maint. side of my day for you:

Day shift and I'm working with a good group of guys but the calls that were coming in were all whinny type of complaining calls. Nothing really broken but the plane "feels weird" or "three legs ago this light came on" you know what I mean. So I'm bump up Lead and I get news that my permanent Lead Mechanic bid just came in and I didn't get the position. No big deal really thats called seniority but added to my already foul mood and it sucked at the time.

The day is almost over when we get a call about a plane on the ground with a "landing gear question". Usually those are about a leak or inspection light etc. Well not this time! This guy says he put the gear up and when it was up and he put the handle in the off position the right main gear "fell out". In other words the gear on the rightside was not staying retracted. Grounded! I thought it was crazy that the pilot did not call ahead to let us know about this choosing instead to call us when he was at the gate.

So I know tat we are going to have to jack this plane and check things out. I'm in the office printing out the Maint. Manual when my boss comes in and tells me that a plane is diverting to us with, guess what? Thats right the landing gear would not retract! Two gear swings what are the odds?

Well now its 1:30 and day shift ends at 2:30 so some choices have to be made. The boss calls people for OT (overtime) but no one wants to come in. I am due back for Midnight shift at 9pm but he wants me to stay with some of the other day shift guys to jack these two planes, swing the gear, etc. Make a long story short I stayed Jacked the air diversion plane first and fixed it (or so I thought). To back up a little: when you jack a plane its not quite as easy as jacking a car. We have to think of things like, fuel weight, keeping the plane level, and since we have no hangar, wind speed, etc. We use four jacks, two wing jacks, a nose jack, and a tail jack. By the way these are BIG jacks operated by air pressure. As the wing jacks lift the plane the Nose and tail jacks basically just follow the plane up and act as stabilizers. The two guys on the wing jacks-jack and the rest of use follow along all controlled by a guy standing on a ladder in the main wheel well watching a Plumb-Bob to keep the plane from going to out of level. It's a highly coordinated job and takes a while to do.

As I was saying we let the first plane down and moved all the equipment to the other plane, jacked it, sure enough the right gear would not stay in the hole. We figured out that the uplock actuator has not working. Of course we do stock one of those so we order it and they say we won't get it until 10pm!

I stayed and finished swing shift without too much trouble but one thing did happen that I have to mention. I went to a call and could tell that I was dealing with a mental giant just by watching him try to taxi into the gate. He stops twice to have the rampers move carts that he thinks are in his "safety zone" but which were not. I can tell this is a "my way or the highway" type of guy. So I go up and he tells me his issue but he is "sure that it is an indication issue". Whatever, no matter what they tell me I have to use my own sense and troubleshooting not what the pilots tell me. My number is going on the sign off so I can not allow anyone else to influence my decisions. So I tell this guy (captain a) that I'm going to go and check out the component to which he says again "I'm sure its just indication".

When I come back upstairs Captain A is talking to Captain B. Captain B is taking over the plane from Captain A. Captain B turns out to be a not so unattractive female captain. So I overhear Captain A saying to Captain B in his most manly voice "I think it's indication but this guy knows more than me". Why can't these guys just accept that they do not know everything and why must we show off to the ladies? Jackass. Anyway I discussed the issue with Captain B and we both decided that Captain A was an idiot.

It's going to be one of those days...

Sometimes you can just tell. Its how you wake up or the first thing some one says to you. Today is that day for me. Lets hope the Sky Gods are kind to me during my day shift and midnight shift that I'm doing today.

Ratcheting Screw Drivers

Why can't any one but Snap-On make a good ratcheting screw driver???

Speaking of Winter

So it has finally happened. The first rain of the year. The storm that passed through yesterday was a pretty bad one-lots of trees down, some power outages, and flooding. Through all that my guys were out working the line "Pushing Tin" as we say.

Some of the things I should have mentioned in my previous post regarding winter I will address now. Probably one of the major things beside trying to stay dry is trying to keep your tools dry. As you all know we have to supply our own tools (a fact that a lot of people outside of maintenance are surprised to hear). If you are not careful you can come back to work after a rainy weekend and have your tools rusted out. Oil, Oil, and more Oil is how I treat my tools during this rainy season. I'm lucky enough to have my own personal golf cart that I use to go from gate call to gate call and as such have a dedicated-watertight-place for my tools. Most guys are at the mercy of relying on others to keep their stuff dry if they leave it on the shared golf carts.

Speaking of leaving tools out: it surprises me how many of my fellow mechanics leave their tool boxes, bags, etc on the company golf carts when they go home. They seem to trust that no one will mess with their stuff. While I'm sure none of the mechanics here would intentionally mess with another mechanics tools there is always the possibility that something can happen. Also it seems kind of selfish to me to leave your junk on a cart that is shared by many people. Not only do we have to work around your tools but if something were to happen the blame would rest squarly on our shoulders. Also istead of putting yout tools away in the tool room they are left out in the weather. One guy even have a black truck box on the back of his cart (we all do). His had a hole in the top and would fill with water when it rained. I was horrified to see once that there was about 5-6 inches of water in the box and at the bottom of the box was a set of Snap-On wrenches! Crazy!

Any way put your stuff away and keep em dry and lubed up in this rain!

The Victorinox Swiss Tool

I figure since the name of the blog is Aircraft Maintenance and Tools I should start some reviews I guess of some of the tools I have found most helpful to me. I'm sure all of us carry some sort of multi tool like a Leatherman, Gerber, Buck, etc. I have had a few Leatherman tools from the very first style they offered to the Leatherman Crunch which had a vise grip on it(I liked that one but someone thought they could take better care of it than I could so it disappeared). My favorite multi tool that I have owned is my Victorinox Swiss Tool.

The Victorinox is large by most multi tool standards and pretty heavy. To get to the pliers you have to open the handles back like the older Leatherman. The handles are formed so that the edges are not sharp but rounded over so that when you bare down on them they will not bit into your hands. They handles are also slightly open when the pliers are closed all the way so you cannot pinch your hand there either.

My Victorinox is an older model so some of the features have changed but most are similar. The pliers are needle nose style with an open larger toothed mid section and a wire cutter/stripper on the lower section near the joint. One of the things I really like is that all the other tools are on the outside of the Victorinox. No need to open the pliers to get to the knife for example. So the other tools are: straight blade knife, large flat blade screwdriver, medium scraper blade with a bottle opener, small flat blade screwdriver with a can opener, and a wood/plastic saw on one handle. The other handle has a serrated knife, pick or awl, phillips srewdriver (#2 size), small flat blade srewdriver and a file. The file has a fine side and a course side as well as a fine toothh saw on its edge. All the tools open and lock into place with a simple finger and slide lock. Engraved onto either side of the handles are ruler marks-inches on one side and centermeters on the other. With the tool open and layed flat you can measure from 1-9 inches.

I believe the new Victorinox has a scissor onstead of a second knife but like I said I have and older model. Some guys have told me that my Victorinox os too heavy but being a line guy you have to use what you have and I have had to use mine as a hammer, pry, etc. It has some battle scars and wounds and Victorinox would repair it for me for free and make it all pretty for me but then it just would not seem like my Victorinox.

Line Maintenance and Winter

Wow! Where did the summer go? I work as a Line Mech and I spend a lot of time outside naturally. I sometimes pick up a graveyard shift and I can always tell the first really cold night of the year. For me that was last night. Cold and windy. Line maint. is a special breed of maint. The ability to troubleshoot while laying under a running engine at night, in a rain storm, while the wind is blowing the rain sideways and you are laying in a puddle of water, feeling it creep under your rain suit is something that very few guys would do.

I personally love working the line. I have done overhaul, cargo ops, and general aviation but I think that line work offers the challenge that keeps me interested in the industry. As a Line Mech the ability to think on your toes and use common sense is honed and refined. Its a thrill to have a plane come in and figure out what is wrong with it-fix it-and get to see it push back for a revenue flight is awesome. The fact that it has to be done in the rain in my case or snow for some or even 100 degree weather is a contributing factor to my belief that Line Maint. is some of the most demanding yet satisfing work in the industry.

The Laying of Blame

Its a part of the industry that a lot of people talk about but you never see anything written about. Of course I'm talking about "The Blame Game". As long as I have been in the airlines the blame game has been an integral part of the daily grind. I think that when people pull the "it was'nt me it was______" card or "that station should have fixed (whatever)" it's a normal part of being an A&P mech at least at the airlines.

When I worked overhaul it was "Day shift did'nt finish the job" or "Swing shift should have knew better", you get the idea. Some of the best stories I've heard revolve around the Blame Game. Most of these stories cannot be retold but all you mechs out there know what I mean. Now that I think of it there are a lot of "games" we as mechs play. How about "The Excuse is Right". Is it me or does everyone seem to have an excuse for whatever idiotic thing they did? Maybe we will talk some about this one tomorrow.