Good story! Didn't the senior enlisted men such as yourself "chew out" lower ranking airmen who did foolish things, or is that no longer done in the Air Force? Gerry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WILTON via Mercedes <mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote:
> WRENCHES IN FLIGHT CONTROLS > > I was an A/2C (E-3) B-47E maintenance crew chief in the 98th Bomb Wing > at Lincoln AFB, NE, from Oct '57 to Mar '60, when I left to attend Officer > Candidate School (OCS). > In late '59, my aircraft was in the periodic inspection hanger for > several days for certain detailed and time-required inspections and > maintenance, including lubrication of flap actuators, tracks and rollers. > During mid-morning break one day during this time, I noticed one of the > flaperons, part of the flap that would spill (hinge upward) with the aileron > to aid lateral control at low airspeeds, was in the spilled position - an > unnatural condition with no power on the aircraft. > Investigating what was holding the flaperon in the spilled position, I > found two nice open-end wrenches jammed in between the actuator levers and > the wing rib structure above. This could have caused serious structural > damage to the wing if somebody had turned the battery switch on or started > the external power unit (MD-3). Hydraulic pressure at 3000 psi would likely > have suddenly shoved the wrenches upward through the wing. > I removed the two wrenches and waited for the owner to return from > break, at which time, I had a serious "talk" with him about the dangers of > leaving wrenches in flight controls. He tried to give me a lame excuse > about making it easier to grease flap rollers and tracks, and I warned him > that if I found the wrenches in the wing again, they were going be mine. > Later, when I returned from lunch, guess what! I found the flaperon on > the other side of the airplane held in the spilled position with the same > wrenches!! 'Didn't even confront the culprit this time - just took the > wrenches as promised and put 'em in my tool box, where they remain today. > Every time I've used 'em for the last 57 years I've thought of that careless > mechanic and that B-47 with no holes punched in the wings. > > Wilton Strickland, LtCol, USAF (Ret) > 5000 hrs in B-52D, E, F, G, H > > > _______________________________________ > http://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 > -- arche...@embarqmail.com <arche...@embarqmail.com> --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus _______________________________________ http://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
