What all did the Silver Plate modifications involve? Was wondering if the B-29s that delivered the atomic bombs used the Norden bombsite or was it something else.
Jump to postAgain, I have learned something new. I did not know that the B-29 had ever been positioned in India and China. Had always read of it being deployed out of Tinian. Cost aside, the Manhattan Project was impressive as was the B-29 project. It seems one depended on the other. If we made a nuclear weapon...
Jump to postDid you guys read where the U.S. is rehabilitating the airfield at Tinian? It was such a busy and historic place back in the era of WW2, and then fell in to disrepair and the mists of history after the war was over.
Jump to postThanks to all the responders, especially the ones with the links to more information. Truly amazing. I have worked in aviation many years and I've read a lot about the history of the WW 2 era, but did not know of this most interesting fact. Yes, you do learn something new everyday.
Jump to postThis topic may have been discussed in the past on this forum, this is my first post here. I recently read where the most expensive project of world war 2 was the development of the B-29 at over 2 billion U.S. dollars. If asked, I would have said that the Manhattan Project would have been the most co...
Jump to postMost likely, the plane doesn't have a D check interval, as stated in the other posts. On our B767-300Fs, there are what are called L checks that are ongoing until the plane accumulates enough hours for its C check. You can inspect for defects with paint on the plane. We do a crown skin inspection on...
Jump to postAs a structures/composites mechanic, I have applied and inspected many "speedtape" applications. It is not applied as a structural repair. Usually, it is applied over areas of missing paint on composite parts, such as the engine cowlings, wing-to-fuselage fairings, and on the ships with co...
Jump to postA million thanks to you all for the replies. I had thought that simulators could maybe be "refurbished" by the simulators manufacturer to another aircraft type. I can see, now, how you would need to totally redo the physical flight deck to do that. Years past, I got to go to the Northwest ...
Jump to postHello,
What becomes of flight simulators that are no longer needed or of a type of aircraft that is no longer being widely operated. These machines are quite expensive. Can a simulator for say a DC10 that is not used any more be refurbished to represent a different type of aircraft such as a B777?
Being a structures mechanic, I can say that adding those doors had to be quite a bit of work. Once the cuts were made and all the supporting structure was in place, the doors would have to be hung and rigged for smooth operation. Getting a factory installed door off and another one on and rigged can...
Jump to postFrom a maintenance viewpoint, the under-slung wing gets the nod. It's just easier to get to everything. One downside is closing the thrust reversers and fan cowls. On some models you have to crawl or sit on the ground to get to the latches, which can be uncomfortable even on warm dry days. The tail ...
Jump to postSeveral years ago, I was on an aircraft repair trip to JFK. While there, I got to see a "drive through" style de-ice facility that was supposedly capable of handling a A380. It looked like it had infrared heat and maybe chemical de-icing sprays inside a giant open ended covering. Now, when...
Jump to postAs for the FedEx MD-11s, we have been seeing them come into our hangar here at IND for the RAMP (Reliable Aircraft Maintenance Program). In the years past, the MD's, and especially the B757's, had really bad paint problems with numerous areas of missing paint, "rivet rash" and faded out co...
Jump to postI work at FedEx HVMX here in IND. The ships you see here are taken to what we here at IND call the "east hangar", the former ATA hangar at IND airport that we now use. I work in the former USAir hangar, which is called the "west hangar". The new 767's are placed into the east han...
Jump to postWe here at FX Indy, acquire parts from other carriers. It is usually to expedite the return of the ship to revenue service. I asked our AOG specialist how this works. The paperwork is usually around five hundred dollars just for asking for the part. Then, there is a initial payment for the first day...
Jump to postThis usually means that the gear has an oversize gland nut installed. This is done at the gear strut overhaul if corrosion or other damage is noted. The overhaul shop will machine the strut to remove the damage which will then require an oversize gland nut. Usually, the overhaul shop will stencil wh...
Jump to postWill probably require a lot of structural repair.
Jump to postI obtained my A&P many years ago and have worked almost exclusively in structural and composite repairs on heavy commercial aircraft for over 35 years now. First of all, and this is most important, get both your airframe and powerplant licenses. You will need both for advancement in aviation mai...
Jump to postYes, most assuredly. I have been in aircraft maintenance for many years, both military (U.S. Navy) and commercial heavy aircraft. Each manufacturer supplies manuals for each type of ship they produce. For heavy commercial aircraft, they are numerous, such as the Aircraft Maintenance (AMM), Structura...
Jump to postThanks for quite an interesting article, I enjoyed reading it. Something of interest to me is that both the Me-262 and Lockheed XP-80 were both strikingly good looking aircraft, and are still that way today. As Kelly Johnson said, "if it looks right, it will fly right".
Jump to postHello to the forum members, I have wondered why Boeing uses the T-33's as chase jets. I also read where, at one time, they used other non-Boeing planes such as the North American Sabre. As for the T-33's, it seems they have a red schemed plane and a blue one also. And they are impeccably maintained ...
Jump to postI have been involved in many lighting strike inspections and repairs over my years in aircraft maintenance. Lightning strikes can be difficult to see sometimes, especially at night. Usually, it is small burn or charring marks around the fasteners of the fuselage and they can be widely spaced along t...
Jump to postIn response to 889091, There was drain plugs in the area of the air stairs on the B727's that I worked on at Eastern Airlines. It is kind of difficult to explain without actually seeing how this was set up, but the B727's had drain plugs in the nose landing gear area of all the B727's. They allowed ...
Jump to postWe see lightening strikes here at our structures shop. They are probably one of the most dreaded jobs to see. The strikes can be over a big section of the aircraft meaning that we have to open up many areas of the aircraft interior to access the damage areas for fastener replacement or doing a repai...
Jump to postI recall a MD10 that came into our hangar at IND for structures work because the bogie didn't center, or didn't center soon enough, when the main gear retracted. The main gear actuators apparently have the muscle to stow the gear even if it isn't centered for the wheel well. Spent about two days of ...
Jump to postOn the topic of 767 construction, our new 767-300F's are experiencing a lot of cracked parts on the wing fixed leading edge and trailing edges. This is on planes with very low flight hours. On the fixed leading edge which is a composite construction, the nose former angles are breaking. They are loc...
Jump to postGreetings to the forum, I'm not sure that this forum is the correct one for this topic, but, here I go. I was recently browsing around on Google Maps, and happened to look at the former Chanute AFB at Rantoul, Illinois. In the image you can see a collection of vintage aircraft that seem to be in the...
Jump to postTo Eskimotail, Thank you for the post. The last sentence of it rings most true. We have technicians assigned to work this on a twelve on, twelve off shift cycle to try for continuity on the job. You must have experienced techs to work this kind of repair. But, in a small shop such as ours, the techs...
Jump to postWe had to go with the repair kit due to the area that was damaged. It is the belly skin that runs from the circumferential that is just aft of the bulk cargo doorway to the the aft pressure bulkhead. This is a compound curved skin that we could not fabricate at our hangar and is approximately ten to...
Jump to postTo ReverseFlow, Thanks for your post. I had not come across this in my search. So, they do have on site repair teams. The reason I was wanting to know this is that we recently had a A300-600F do a tail strike and it was sent to us at IND. The damage was extensive. Airbus was contacted and said that ...
Jump to postHello everyone, I was wondering if Airbus has a recovery and modifications services, RAMS, like Boeing does. This is teams that go out and do in the field repairs and recovery of downed aircraft. I know that McDonnell Douglas also at one time had such services. I've briefly looked on-line, but have ...
Jump to postI can remember the # 2 engine "patio deck" on the MD10's we used to do maintenance on. They were located just beneath the #2 engine and served as a work platform. The floor panels of this deck were a honeycomb core with bonded surface sheets, some times metal faced or fiberglass and usuall...
Jump to postWhere I work (FX in Indianapolis), we all have our own tools. The company does provide tooling and has a staffed tool room. From what I have seen, some airlines in other parts of the world provide their mechanics with a stocked tool box appropriate to their job rating. For instance, if you work avio...
Jump to postHorstroad, I have to admit that I'm not sure of the specifics of how the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) allow this. I do know that there are FBO operations that have unlicensed maintenance personnel. It may be that they are under a more stringent inspection requirement on the work performed. In ...
Jump to postAs stated in the above posts, you can work on aircraft without an A & P certificate, but I strongly advise having it. I work at FedEx, and if you work out on the aircraft, you must have your tickets. I would assume most of the majors are this way. Otherwise, you can work at a fixed base operator...
Jump to postWow! This seems to be an interesting subject. I thank each and every one of you for responding, As a non-pilot member of the forum, it is still somewhat confusing to me, but I have learned a lot from this post. Another question. If headings and navigation are centered along magnetic lines, and if th...
Jump to postThanks for the answers. I assume that when you say you would turn the short direction, it means you, the pilot turn the yoke. If you are on autopilot, flying due north and are told to turn to 270, you dial this in, does the flight computers also turn the short direction? Can you direct it to do othe...
Jump to postSo, if you were flying a due north and were instructed to turn to 270 degrees, would you go right three quarters of the way around the circle , or turn left 90 degrees? As you can tell, I'm not a pilot, but it seems to me that in situations where the flight is told to make numerous course changes, i...
Jump to postI'm working my way through a textbook on trigonometry, a subject I've never studied, but find fascinating due to all of it's applications. In the text it shows two ways of expressing bearings. One method is when a single angle is given, it is understood that bearing is measured in a clockwise direct...
Jump to postIt most definitely depends on where the decal is. The registration numbers and flag can go for several years. I suspect that the main reason they let go is that the edge sealer becomes aged and brittle, then the slipstream will peel them up or a de-icing sprayer hits them. The decals on the front of...
Jump to postI have no question to present, instead it's a look into what goes on in the maintenance side of things. Recently, I was tasked with removing a deteriorated American flag on one of our B767-300F's. The flag is located just aft of the registration numbers on the aft fuselage. I found out that there ar...
Jump to postI strongly urge her to get the A & P licenses, both of them. I was also in the Navy as a air-frame maintenance mechanic. I was signed off by the FAA to take the general and air-frame test for the A license. Instead, I went ahead with a A & P school program ( G.I.bill funded) and obtained bot...
Jump to postWhy does the system work better with incandescent lighting than LED? I assume that this refers to the approach/runway lights. We install the system on our B767-300F planes here in IND and I have heard one of our avionics technicians mention this.
Gregory
I see this quite often on our aircraft, including the B757 and MD11's. The 767's are holding up fairly well so far. As for flying with paint missing on a composite surface, the SRM allows a time limit that is more than you would think. If I recall correctly, the 757 and 767 can go for one thousand h...
Jump to postRead the insert by DLMech on the code of federal regulations, most interesting. Goes to show that you can always learn something new about aviation even if you have been in the industry for many years. Especially like the part about manned free balloons requiring a data plate, had never considered t...
Jump to post, Interesting information on the fuselage mounted data plate. I have never heard of this. But why would a commercial airliner have a plate stipulated by an E.A.A. regulation? I have seen what the other post is calling a "trust plate", just not on the airframe itself but on the engines. You...
Jump to postSomething of interest along the lines of this topic. When we (FX) began to receive our 757 conversion aircraft, I recall seeing a small data plate on the right side of the fuselage just aft of the pressure bulkhead. This was years ago and it was on maybe two aircraft and I've never seen them since. ...
Jump to postI often get general visual inspection (GVI) cards that instruct me to inspect the upper fuselage lobe and it will specifically state that it is to be accomplished from ground level. There is rarely any damage to the crown skin area. If one is available, I will take a man-lift and go up to the upper ...
Jump to postI can't give guidance for you on Bombardier. But, if you are a A&P license holder with no experience, you might want to look into the FedEx maintenance training program (MTP). They take candidates who have obtained their A&P license and send them through a training program where they are rot...
Jump to postIn the story that I read, I can't remember if the door failed in testing or not. It seems that it could be very well possible as the builder of the door would most likely do tests to certify it. And, as stated in the book, the builder sent letters to Douglas that they had serious concerns with the d...
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