Straight & level: 22 August 2006

The mechanic's tale

A recently licensed US airframe and powerplant mechanic writes about true lessons learned:
Non-destructive testing is anything but.
Electrical theory is nowhere close to being electrical science.
A clean engine is more likely to fail than a dirty one.
Any number taken to the zero power is one.
Rivets are your little friends.
If a device or component appears to be working, leave it alone.
Tell somebody before you crawl into an airliner fuel tank.
Using the proper torque setting is nice, but pretty safety wire is better.
6,000°F isn't so hot once you get used to it.
Brute force and ignorance beat knowledge and finesse every time.
It isn't the volts that get you, it's the amps.
Clear all sledgehammer use with the instructor first.

Herks in space

And from a recent UK Ministry of Defence Contracts Bulletin confirmation of a secret inter-galactic tactical transport project:

"Describing an approximately £1.5 billion Hercules Integrated Operational Support deal with Marshall Aerospace, it summarises the work as: 'A 24-year partnered support contract for the Hercules fleet of aircraft and spacecraft'."

Help the aged

Budgie News: "What's the advantage of doing an avionics upgrade of such an old C-130?"

Herkman: "You know where you are when you break down."

Name that dame

Budgie News: "So apart from LCFare you thinking of a name for the Megaplanes 747 Dreamliner cargo monsterafter all, it is the Queen of the Skies."

Megaplanes: "The engineers have already given it one, actually!"

Budgie: "Which is?"

Megaplanes: "erDrag Queen."

Hawker ASTOR?

Nephew David King was "rather puzzled" by the "ASTOR is born" article (Budgie News, 11-17 July). In the second paragraph it says "aircraft XJ692 is expected to arrive at Farnborough with a new addition".

King, who obviously cross-referenced this tail number with his Big Book Of Planes, says he was "unaware that the latest ASTOR was in fact a presumably heavily modified Hunter F6! Presumably, this is a secret project that the MoD has been investing in without the knowledge of the public or in fact 5 Sqn - which thought it was getting new Global Express aircraft. Can anyone explain where this Hunter F6 has been hiding all these years? Will we see other older types returned to use from secret storage for further military use? I think we should be told."

straight & level 22 aug 2006