herkeng Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 It is not a Herk but us retirees have to make due with what we can: Just a heads up, I volunteer with the Collings folks out here in Houston, and we are just an engine run away from having our F-4D Phlying again. The bird has been down since 06 when she FOD\'d the #2 engine. The new J79 is in and it looks like we found the last leak (knock on wood) and should be able to get her run up,then up for a FCF. We have her repainted. She is no longer is the paint of Steve Ritchies 463. She now will fly as Robin Old\'s \"Operation Bolo\" aircraft 63-7680. The aircraft will be a tribute to the 8th FW and Robin Olds and also Major Martin who died in 680 when it crashed off the coast of Vietnam. For the diehards out there, if we could get a herk, and be able to pay for the fuel & parts we would do so. Just can\'t do it with the bombers and other aircraft we have to work on.$$$$$$ Herkeng (retired) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdaley Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 Gary \"Cowboy\" Keck still flying that F4 for you? If he is tell him Hi! Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herkeng Posted June 16, 2008 Author Share Posted June 16, 2008 Bob Cowboy was just here last thursday doing the engine run for us. He should be back again to run her up and then do the FCF. I\'ll tell him you said hi. Herkeng Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetcal1 Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 Hey, Don\'t forget you have that JA-36 jetcal down there. You should be able to get a good trim using the basic accessories. That should help you keep the engine on wing a little longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herkeng Posted June 17, 2008 Author Share Posted June 17, 2008 Jetcall We have more test equipment then we have space for. Our Engine guys have been busting butt since we got the new J-79 back from Stockton. Everytime we try to get \"Christine\" to get out of the hanger she leaks. Gotta get her to fly. The Engine is in great shape and we hope (fingers crossed) to have her airborne within the next week or so. Once flying we can get the hops people have paid for outta the way and hopefully have her get to some shows (Fuel costs permitting. Speaking of which, I think the airshow circuit is going to be hurting this year as fuel prices are going up faster than a Max Effort Takeoff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetcal1 Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 Ouch! We calibrated that unit for you at no charge. BTW, a good trim might drop fuel a few PPH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Railrunner130 Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 Glad to hear about the F-4. That\'s the reason I became interested in flying in the first place. The local Guard unit had F-4Ds and man, something about them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herkeng Posted June 21, 2008 Author Share Posted June 21, 2008 Good news, Cowboy should be coming in this week to do the engine run! maybe the FCF as well. Bad News: The wife and I are going on our first vactaion in a very long time, gonna miss the flight and run. Herkeng (Retired) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomsandHerks Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 Hey Herkeng I\'ll gladly take your spot there while your out just as long as I can carry my camera! Donald Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C130Hcc Posted June 24, 2008 Share Posted June 24, 2008 I was a dock chief and instructor on F-4Es at Seymour Johnson in the late 70\'s. Left active and went to Herks in the guard. Miss the fast burners though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herkeng Posted July 7, 2008 Author Share Posted July 7, 2008 Well, I returned from the Florida vacation and spent saturday with the Phantom. It does not look good. We ran up the number 2 engine and still had leaks and discovered a crack in the casing. The last run the guys did, we had a soap taken and it was bad. Oil was changed out and new soap taken after this run, awaitng results from the lab. Overall it looks like we are going to pull the engine and send it back to california.We have SME coming in to look at it but the concensus by the rest of us is not good. This is a real bummer because of all the freaking hard work we have done to get the darn thing going. I am disheatened but will press on. We were all hoping to get her back flying this summer. It is the 50th anniversary of the phantom this year.Oh well, guess we get to pull the motor again. As a side note, the T-33 is ready for a FCF, the TA-4 is flying out to Mississippi and the Huey has been up beating the air into submission. Only the S2-F and the F-4 are hanger queens. 3 outta 5 ain\'t bad. Herkeng Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetcal1 Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 Not a fun engine change. Which case is it leaking from? BTW, saw the UH-1 in Fort Worth a couple of weeks ago. It looked good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herkeng Posted July 11, 2008 Author Share Posted July 11, 2008 Jetca1L The leak is just forward of the Afterburner case. I have not heard or seen any message traffic on the SOAP or anything else since the run. been unable to get out there this week. Glad you liked the huey. The guys who have worked on her have been busting butt and it has be a real pleasure to see her beating the air into submission. Herkeng Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herkeng Posted July 23, 2008 Author Share Posted July 23, 2008 Okay here is the new update. Looks like the last soap was good. The plan is to have a SME come out on Friday and we will do another run. There is some debate on if the case is leaking or we have a line doing it. So instead of us arguing amongst our selves, we are bringing in a SME. I really hope that it is a line that we can fix easily! yeah right. Nothing is ever easy on this thing. Wish us luck ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfisher Posted July 27, 2008 Share Posted July 27, 2008 I was acrew cheif on B 58\'s Ithink we had the J79 engine before the F4\'s. We didn\'t have. much trouble with them but they were new back then.I had to run engines when we had maint. problems and when i went to after burner it nearly scared the heck out of me. We had one crew cheif runing in after burner when he pulled the throtle back he left one in after burner and it spun the acft. aroung. At that time the B58 was about the fastest plane the Air Force had.It set many speed records. It was a very high tec plane in it\'s time. I worked on it for three years i left it in 1966 to become a C130 FE and was glade to make the change.Ihad spent ten years in SAC and going to TAC was like being in a completely different Air Force. If you have never been throw a SAC ORI there is no way i could explain it some times they would last a week and if you did not pass it people got replaced or fired that was in the late 50\'s & early 60\'s it was a one mistake Air Force. I hope i did not bore you to death with all of this i just got to typing and did not when to stop. I am sure there is some old SAC people out there that that this will bring back some old memories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herkeng Posted July 27, 2008 Author Share Posted July 27, 2008 Here is the the update to the last update, we ran the engine up on Friday, The SME was there and the verdict is.........We have to pull the motor. Looks like the return scavenge line is leaking. We have to pull the motor and inspect the line from the oil tank back. The last Soap passed again, that is good news. The bad news, I think I broke one of my freaking fingers. Nothing is easy on this bird! CFisher I was in SAC on Buffs. I remember it well. Talk about culture shock going from SAC to MAC. What a difference. SAC was a different ball game. Both commands were great at what they did, I do wish MAC would of treated the C-130 world a bit better.It felt like we were the red haired step children of the Strat\' Mac world. As a side note, I think if the USAF is gonna fix its problems with the Nuclear mission, its time to dust off the SAC regs and SAC culture and put it back into its nuclear programs. Herkeng (retired) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EClark Posted July 27, 2008 Share Posted July 27, 2008 Way to go herkeng I went to tech.school on B-52\'s at Chanute A.F.B. the instructors had us scared to death was so glad when Iwas told I was going to T.A.C.even though I had to cross train Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spectre623 Posted July 28, 2008 Share Posted July 28, 2008 Yep, same here. Went to tech school at Amarillo AFB on B-47\'s. Half the class went across the runway to SAC and most of the rest of us went to Sewart on C-130\'s. Dodged that bullet!!. Bill:P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herkeng Posted August 2, 2008 Author Share Posted August 2, 2008 Going out to pull the engine today. Hope no more fingers get broken. Herkeng Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herkeng Posted August 3, 2008 Author Share Posted August 3, 2008 Engine is out & I Still have all fingers and thumbs. We looked over the motor and could not find any oil leakage on the scavenge oil return line that we can see on the out side of the casing. We are betting the farm that the leak is from where the scavenge return line picks up the oil just after of the rear turbine bearing still. IE still inside of the casing and liner. Needless to say, we are shipping the motor to Stockton California to be fixed, they have a test cell and we don\'t. Thats it for now. Herkeng Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetcal1 Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 Can you go inside the bearing housing? As I recall it\'s 3 bolts safety wired together and then some heat shielding. But..if the line running inside the stator is cracked, you will need to replace the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herkeng Posted August 8, 2008 Author Share Posted August 8, 2008 No can do. We pulled the motor, got it transfered to the 3000 trailer and put it on the truck. We were not going to tear into the system because we have no test cell to run up on, we would end up playing musical engines if we did not solve the problem on the first go. I understand where you are coming from, but the engine guys want to get the whole thing looked at, tested and have it signed off by the folks in Caly. Herkeng Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetcal1 Posted August 8, 2008 Share Posted August 8, 2008 I must admit I miss the days when we would look at the manual and give it a shot. After, all we had to pull the engine any way, why not try and save it?. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herkeng Posted August 8, 2008 Author Share Posted August 8, 2008 Jetcal You have to remember that we are not a big organization. We have only so much to work with and rely on a outside source for the heavy work. I understand what you said but, we have had problems with this J-79 from the get go. The decision was for the folks in Stockton to work out the bugs and for us quit trouble shooting. We don\'t have the volunteer manpower to keep pulling the motor time and time again, even though we are pretty good at it by now. Thanks for the reply Herkeng Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EClark Posted September 19, 2008 Share Posted September 19, 2008 How is the F-4 coming along do you have the engine back. haven\'t had a update lately just wondering Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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