Excellent job on the 15 day lube




So i got a few evals recently on a preflt inspection, and on a 15 day lube. All evals were passed with no defects. Not a big deal but On the 15 day lube report the evaluator noted "excellent job on the ball screws".....For some reason the guys in the shop found that funny.

Main landing gear (MLG ) balls screws, are the component in the MLG that is used to extend and retract the MLG. It is actually a large screw turning thru a ballnut that that allows the gear to be extnded and retracted straight up and down in the wheel wells. The components need to stay clean and lubed so they operate properly. Excessive friction can damage your gear rendering you NMC. or could create an emergency....if it gets stuck. The last thing you want is hung gear, or I take ball screws seriously.

And check this shit out! My plane rocks! I think it is cuz her crewchief is awesome. So my plane was flying her tail off last week. Crazy shit trying to juggle the required inspections and maintenance and servicing with the fllying schedule when other planes are breaking left and right and so they are relying on mine to take the other lines.


A while ago the boss made a big deal out of this guys plane flying five lines (missions) in a row without any write ups. No small accomplishment as these are big planes and so there are alot of minor things that can get written up. But the big deal was that the guy who was getting the pat on the back for it, spends more time in the office than on his plane, and well Herks just dont fit inside....'naw mean?!?!?! He thinks he is a better mechanic than me. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, and everyone has the right to be wrong. Still, it is human nature to believe what you want to be true, and to manipulate the truth into what you want to believe.

Alpha ones don't make a good crew chief. Preventing preventable writeups does, which for the most parts means alpha ones. Mechanical components break....you cant prevent that. But it is normally with a little warning....so the more u r out on your plane and get to know every nut and bolt....the more you will know her personality and be be able to to catch the small stuff. And the more you do that......the more control you have over when she breaks. Preventative maintenance. You can "rag wrench" the hydraulic leak till the plane is broke somewhere on the road and troops are counting on it, because it is within limits.........

Or you can use the time it is already down for other maintenance to get it fixed....before it is out of limits. Of course sometimes things do occur without warning. But a good crewchief knows their plane and will for the most part break the plane when they want, not let the plane decide when to break or the aircrew. Yes luck has a little to do with it.........but over the long run a good crewchiew will not take back seat to luck.........

So my plane comes back "alpha one" all the time (no writeups). I dont need someone who sits in an office to acknowledge that to know she is a good plane.

However.... The other crewchief (who is better than me....remember) his plane was supposed to fly a late line. Mine was scheduled for the "out and back" to Neverland . But becuz they are flying mine so much lately it is hard to get any maintenance done...... they swapped the tails, so i could quickturn mine to send it back out on the road after that mission.

BUT


Check this, My plane wass getting ready to go and the other crewchief's breaksdown so i have to cut my mission short . Mine comes back and lands 'alpha one' for the fourth time in a row .....takes the other crewchief's mission .....flies to Neverland and back and guess what? No write ups. That makes 6 for my plane. And then i quickturned her and sent her back out and she continued to fly all her missions without writeups untill a new flight eng wrote her up for APU (auxillary power unit) output pressure dropping below limits while starting #3 engine...well it always works right up untill the time it breaks........but,

..... well quickly cranking the engine with airconditioning on, and then again with it off ....verified my hunch. No defect. Air conditioning draws air off the APU, and our starters are pnuematic. #3 engine is the 1st engine we start in the start sequence. When we go to start an engine we hit the start btton which opens the starter control valve allowing air to flow to the starter turbine.....and voila!! She's cranking.....add a lil gas and some flames you just turned jet fuel to noise......

So yeah......there is a reason the book says to start the engines with ac off.......