LOVE that story.....
On Feb 10, 2013, at 6:27 PM, WILTON wrote: > Speaking of Cessnas reminds me: > > One evening in early winter of 1978, while I was Director of Engineering at > Sondrestrom Air Base, Greenland, I was in my room reading and listening to > classical music when Base Commander called and asked me to go over to the > Officer's Club and talk to a NASA guy about a problem with one of their > aircraft. They were there with a Cessna Citation and a Boeing 707 doing high > altitude atmospheric research with the National Science Foundation. > > At the club, Base Commander, who knew that I had also been a B-47E > maintenance crew chief before I was commissioned and started flying B-52's., > introduced me to the NASA guy. NASA guy had just discovered a problem with > the braking (or steering - can't be sure which now, but more likely steering) > system on forward landing gear of their Cessna Citation, a small > business-type jet aircraft. A small, U-shaped piece of stainless steel > tubing under hydraulic pressure of 3000 psi was cracked and leaking. They > needed to fly one more mission with the Cessna to be finished for the season. > If they couldn't find or make a replacement for the part locally, they were > going to fly the 707 to Los Angeles and back over the next couple of days to > get a part. After the NASA guy described the problem, I told him that I may > be able to help - I'd certainly try - I don't give up very easily. > > We jumped in my truck and went to the hanger to look at the leaking part. It > was a U-shaped piece of ¼-inch stainless steel tubing with each leg of the U > less than 2 inches long with a flare and a compression nut on each end. I > vaguely remembered that I had seen some ¼-inch stainless steel tubing in a > hanger that was used by the NY Air National Guard for their summer C-130 > operations on the Greenland ice cap. We removed the offending part and took > it with us to the National Guard hanger. In the hanger, I could see several > six-feet-long pieces of the appropriate stainless steel tubing several feet > away on the inside of a shop secured by an 8-feet-tall chain link fence > topped by strands of barbed wire. We drug a work table from across the > hanger up to the fence; I jumped up on the table and went over the fence onto > another table inside the fence, walked across the shop, got a piece of the > tubing and stuck it thru the fence to the NASA guy. I quickly and easily > went back up on the table inside the shop and back over the fence. > > Still not sure we'd be able to make a proper part, I stopped by my Danish > civilian contractor chief engineer's living quarters to ask him if he may > like to help. Years before, he'd been chief engineer on Danish sea-going > merchant vessels. He was VERY enthusiastic as we rushed to our Base Civil > Engineering ground equipment shop, hoping to find the tools to help us make > the appropriate part. When we walked into the shop, we interrupted a card > game of several Danish civilian contractor workmen/mechanics. When they > realized what we were doing, they were all anxious to help and rushed to find > three or four plumbing flaring tools in this shop and the plumbing shop > nearby. These tools were for copper tubing, of course, but we forged ahead. > > Soon, there were at least half a dozen well-experienced mechanics in friendly > competition to make, bend, flare, etc., the perfect replacement part for the > Cessna. Special problems, of course, were: the 180 degree bend in such a > short piece of stainless steel tubing, short sides of the U leaving little > room to form the flare on each end and have the compression nut in the right > place on each side also. The replacement had to be exactly like the original > - couldn't be longer because of landing gear retraction restrictions (space > in the wheel well). After several tries, we had an acceptable match > visually. We rushed to the aircraft and installed it for a PERFECT fit and > no leaking. The aircraft flew its mission the next day and flew home to Los > Angeles the next, all without incident. > > This is just another small part of my very enjoyable foreign relations > experience and an excellent example of Danish mechanics' innovative spirit > and desire to excel. > > Wilton > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jon Agne" <jonag...@gwi.net> > To: "Mercedes Discussion List" <mercedes@okiebenz.com> > Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2013 6:06 PM > Subject: Re: [MBZ] Ok don > > >> Did I hear Cessna??? >> >> On Feb 10, 2013, at 5:53 PM, Kaleb C. Striplin wrote: >> >>> Is your Cessna air worthy? >>> >>> Sent from my iPhone >>> >>> _______________________________________ >>> http://www.okiebenz.com >>> For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com >>> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ >>> >>> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >>> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com >> >> >> _______________________________________ >> http://www.okiebenz.com >> For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com >> To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ >> >> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
