Here's another one, already; you've seen part of it before:
POWER PLANT PROJECT
By Wilton Strickland
In 1978, while I was Director of Engineering at Sondrestrom, Air Base,
Greenland, my biggest project for the summer was to remove twelve, 1942 GM
Diesel generator engines in the base main power plant and replace them with
ten White/Westinghouse Diesel units. I can't remember the capacities of the
engines, but the newer engines were significantly bigger than the old ones.
They each had catwalks up on the side to facilitate access for maintenance,
adjustments, etc. I think the newer engines had 8 or 10 cylinders of about
12 or 14 inches in diameter - just can't remember for sure. The replacement
units had been brought out of Vietnam and had spent several years on a dock
at Port Hueneme, CA. The plan when they were sent to Greenland in the
summer of '77 was to simply remove the old General Motors engines, which had
been sitting there running for 36 years, and replace them with the newer
ones. In early spring of '78, my Danish civilian contractor chief engineer
came to me one day with SHOCKING news and photos of rampant, MAJOR RUST on
every surface inside the newer engines. The size and complexity of the
power plant project suddenly was multiplied several times over.
We suddenly had to initiate a project to COMPLETELY rebuild the ten newer
engines "in house." I made arrangements for 8 civilian master Diesel
mechanics to join us for the rebuild project - 4 American civilian Air
Force employees and 4 Danish contractor employees. The project was moving
along fairly well, except that, as we disassembled the engines until there
were no two pieces (or very few, anyway) still together, we kept finding
more parts that we had to replace, including bearings, cam shafts and crank
shafts and a significant list of items that I don't remember. It was
absolutely imperative, though, that I get a certain number of the "new"
units on line by 1 Oct, more by 1 Nov, all by 1 Dec, etc., in order to
satisfy base power requirement for the following winter. Ordering and
receiving parts via the usual, normal supply system was unacceptable. By
the time I learned that we needed a certain part, it was often already
late - we many times needed it the day we learned that we needed it. Part
of the problem, too, was with my base chief supply officer, who, in spite of
my having adamantly informed him that, when I sign a request form for a
certain part, I'm already late in needing it, would knock on my door at
night holding one of my request forms that he'd been holding for a week and
ask, "What's this?" Needless to say, I was far from pleased, and again,
tried to make it abundantly clear that I don't sign parts request forms
unless I NEED the part NOW - that's why the form said, "URGENT." We could
not wait 6 to 8 weeks and more for a certain part to be ordered and make its
way through the normal supply system at a snail's pace with several people
along the way calling and asking me at different times to explain, "What's
this?" I called officials, including a brigadier general, at headquarters
in Colorado Springs and told them that, in order for me to get the necessary
number of "new" generators installed and on line in time, I needed to be
able to call a supplier or manufacturer in the States, and have them deliver
the part(s) immediately to McGuire AFB, NJ, so that an Air Force C-141 could
bring them up to me on one of their 3 flights per week trips northbound.
Another part of my request was to make available to me $50k to $100k in a
"slush fund" to use at my discretion to help get the necessary parts in a
timely manner, etc., to accomplish the mission. They at first were shocked
that I had the audacity to ask for such, and that it was impossible, had
never been done, etc. I insisted, though, and asked for any other
suggestions that they may have to get the needed parts in a timely manner
and get the required units on line by the winter deadline. They finally
agreed and said that they'd send a Col Wha'sisname up to Sondrestrom to
confirm and work out the details with me. I reminded them that a C-141 was
coming north from McGuire the next day, and it would help greatly if he were
on it. They assured me that the Colonel would be en route the next day.
Next afternoon, Col Wha'sisname showed up; we met for an hour or so; I
convinced
'im that I really did need what I asked for; and we quickly worked out the
details; he called the officials in Colorado Springs from my office to tell
'em that my request was legitimate, and he jumped back on the C-141 to
continue his trip north to Thule and other "leisure" resorts.
My engine rebuild crews were not immune to internal bickering that
threatened the project, either. One morning a "delegation" (two of the
senior Danish mechanics and two of the senior American mechanics came to my
office to report serious dissatisfaction and internal bickering amongst the
crewmen. One major problem revolved around who was "in charge" at the shop.
I was quick to remind them that I was in charge overall and that I was now
appointing Mr. Taylor of Colorado Springs, a Diesel mechanic for 35 years,
shop chief. Another major point of contention was bickering between the
"American crew" and the "Danish crew." I reminded them that this must be
ONE team working toward a common goal - to get all of these engines on line
by Dec 1. I also split up the American/Danish concept and put two Danes and
two Americans on each team with Mr. Taylor in charge of his team and the
entire shop and the senior man (who just happened to be Danish) on the other
team in charge of it. I told them that, if they could not resolve questions
amongst the teams and within the shop with Mr. Taylor, bring it to me. I
never heard another word about any discord within the shop. They all seemed
to quickly become very good friends; whenever I made frequent visits to the
shop, there was always a lot of friendly banter between all of them, and
they quickly developed very high degree of respect for each other. We often
had to make jigs and tools as necessary to do a particular task. Everybody
felt free to make suggestions and were quick to agree on a solution and put
it into use They often even asked me for suggestions and appeared glad to
listen to them - even used some of them occasionally.
Meanwhile, my Danish chief engineer came to me one day with another
significant problem he had found at the power plant. Several 250-gallon
"day" fuel tanks in the building were covered on the inside with rust that
was scaling off and clogging filters. He insisted that we needed to order
new tanks "today." I asked if he had checked the tanks at an abandoned
radar station seven miles away down near our port. After hearing that he
had not, I asked him to get a flashlight and a step ladder and come with me
to take a look at them. At the abandoned building, he climbed up on the
step ladder, took the filler cap off each tank and looked inside. As he
checking each one, he turned to me and reported, "That's good." We quickly
realized that we had enough good tanks in the abandoned building to replace
the bad ones in the base power plant. He then asked, "How do we get 'em out
of here; there's no door big enough." I immediately replied, "Knock a hole
big enough in that wall right there." In a couple of days, he had the
necessary tanks at the base power plant. Later, when we needed certain
replacement gages and control panels for the "new" engines, I reminded him
and the mechanics to check those at the abandoned power plant. first. By
using those salvaged from the abandoned facility, we were also able to avoid
buying new instruments and panels.
We met the 1 Oct, 1 Nov and 1 Dec goals and were able to produce plenty of
electric power to make it comfortably through the winter. It certainly made
for a very busy summer and autumn, though. Being busy, of course, kept me
from having time to think about being lonely, and it made the time seem go a
lot faster. In retrospect, it was very good experience.
By the way, it was the longevity of the 36-year-old GM units that persuaded
me to get a new '80 MB 240D in Nov '79. 'Drove it for 17 years 'til it was
totaled by uninsured (other) driver at 185 kmi; '87 300D is now at only 26
years and 129 kmi; '91 350 SDL is at only 22 years and 204 kmi.
Wilton
----- Original Message -----
From: "WILTON" <wilt...@nc.rr.com>
To: "Mercedes Discussion List" <mercedes@okiebenz.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2013 5:43 PM
Subject: Re: [MBZ] Book, WAS: BLIZZARD!!!! AHHH!!
Here's one:
DORM INSULATION WALL
By Wilton Strickland
In 1978, while I was Director of Engineering at Sondrestrom, Air Base,
Greenland, one of my projects was to build a 2 x 4 stud wall, insulate it
with R-15 fiberglass insulation and install and finish sheetrock or
drywall on it immediately inside the outer walls of every room in one of
our large dormitory-like barracks which had been built in 1958 of pre-cast
concrete panels. The outer walls of concrete were very cold and energy
inefficient, especially during the arctic winters.
One day in early summer, the superintendent of the Danish contractor crew
on this project came to my office and told me that the first room was
finished and ready for my inspection; all the rest of the rooms would be
done like this first one after my approval.
In the room, I found that the crew had used no joint tape and no joint
compound at all, but had used only common MASKING tape on all the joints
and nails! I asked the superintendent what had happened to the boxes of
joint tape rolls and buckets of joint compound that I had seen earlier
stacked with the sheetrock in the supply warehouse. He and the workmen
appeared to not understand what I was talking about. I explained to them
that the proper way to finish sheetrock/drywall is to put a bed of joint
compound, a putty-like or plaster-like material (but not as hard as
plaster) on/in the cracks and joints, apply a layer of the paper tape
(this was before the advent of fiberglass mesh tape, of course); apply
another layer of the compound, etc., until the tape is thoroughly embedded
and the compound on the joint is even with the main surface and smooth
with its edges "feathered" to nothing. I also explained to them that the
nail heads should be driven slightly below the sheetrock surface, then
apply joint compound to the depressions until the area is even with the
overall surface and also smooth. They told me that they had never seen
sheetrock installed - that they only knew about plaster. I explained that
applying the joint compound is very much like but simpler and quicker than
plastering. A couple of the workmen and the superintendent went with me
to the supply warehouse and retrieved several buckets of joint compound,
rolls of the paper tape and several taping tools (putty/joint compound
knives). While we were at the warehouse, other workmen were removing all
of the masking tape - not an easy job, because they had painted the wall.
Back at the job site with the joint compound, paper tape, metal corner
beads and tools, I demonstrated applying joint compound to the nail heads
(after a workman drove them in a little more) and joints. I had done it
in a house I had built, rooms I had finished, repairs I had made, etc., so
I was comfortable with it. I told the guys, "Lose your inhibitions, feel
free with it, don't be stingy with the joint compound, use enough to
smooth it out over the area needing it, and don't try to keep it in a
little, restricted space - spread it out and "feather" the edges. Don't
be afraid of it - you can't mess it up." 'Also showed them how to lay a
layer of joint compound in a joint and come back over it with the paper
tape and another layer of joint compound. 'Told them, "Try to smooth it
out in 2 or 3 swipes as you go, try to get it as smooth as you can, but it
doesn't have to be perfect on the first application. Just try not to
leave big clumps and ridges. The smoother you make it on first
application, though, means less work on subsequent application(s), of
course. Do all of the joints and nail heads today and come back tomorrow
and do another application. After 2 or 3 applications, it should be
smooth enough to paint; goal is to leave the surface and edges smooth
enough without any sanding, but, if you have to do some sanding before
painting, that's OK - it can be done easily enough - just gets sort of
dusty." They were very quick learners; I was lucky that they were all
very conversant in English, and by that time, I could speak a little
Danish. As I helped them with the sheetrock finishing process, they
enjoyed helping me with my Danish speaking, most of which I have already
forgotten in 35 years of not needing it. We got along very well, and I
was able to leave it with them after an hour or so of demonstrations and
one-on-one instructions.
We also worked out details for treatment around the windows, application
of metal corner beads, etc. 'Went back to check on them the next morning,
and found that they had done a beautiful job on the first room; 2 men were
in there doing some touch-up/refining, second layer, etc. I gave them a
couple of additional pointers and went to the next 2 or 3 rooms, where the
men were making excellent progress. I told all of the men how well they
were doing and wondered if they might like to come to the States and help
me build houses. We all had a good laugh, but they were, indeed, doing an
excellent job.
We finished the project in a timely manner with no additional problems. I
checked with the rooms' occupants during the following winter and found
them very well-satisfied with the improvement in comfort level near the
outer walls. I don't know if any of the several identical and/or similar
buildings on base ever had this improvement. The entire base was returned
to the Greenlanders/Danes in 1992 and is now know as Kangerlusuaq.
(Google Sondrestrom or Kangerlusuaq, Greenland; some photos of the
two-story concrete, dormitory-type buildings are shown on some of the
sites.)
Wilton
----- Original Message -----
From: "WILTON" <wilt...@nc.rr.com>
To: "Mercedes Discussion List" <mercedes@okiebenz.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2013 5:26 PM
Subject: Re: [MBZ] Book, WAS: BLIZZARD!!!! AHHH!!
Lemme see if I can find one that may be somewhat appropriate.
Anybody working on any sheetrock/drywall finishing projects?
'Even have one (not quite ready) on working through project to rebuild 10
LARGE White/Westinghouse Diesel engines in base power plant - no tech
data - just the hassle of parts, tools, etc., availability and
acquisition plus keeping American and Danish master mechanics' egos
soothed in a remote area such as Greenland - probably just child's play
for Dan P. and Jim C. ;<)
Wilton
----- Original Message -----
From: "Fmiser" <fmi...@gmail.com>
To: "Mercedes Discussion List" <mercedes@okiebenz.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2013 1:36 PM
Subject: Re: [MBZ] Book, WAS: BLIZZARD!!!! AHHH!!
WILTON wrote:
No book of this stuff, yet; 'just keep thinking of
more stuff to write.
Keep it coming! I'm trying to keep up compiling it. *grin*
-- Philip
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_______________________________________
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
