Great story!
On Sun, Feb 10, 2013 at 6:27 PM, WILTON <wilt...@nc.rr.com> 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/<http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/> >>> >>> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >>> http://mail.okiebenz.com/**mailman/listinfo/mercedes_**okiebenz.com<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/<http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/> >> >> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >> http://mail.okiebenz.com/**mailman/listinfo/mercedes_**okiebenz.com<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/<http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/> > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/**mailman/listinfo/mercedes_**okiebenz.com<http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com> > -- Jaime Kopchinski http://www.jaimekop.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
