Herk bites

[Mikey_G]

I've been bitten by a herk several times the last few years but last night was a good one. I was taking a chem stick off of the forward escape hatch, the bastard came unassed and got me in the face. I got a nice cut right next to my eye and a small cut on the nose.

Got any good herk bites to share?

[casey]

I think most of us have gotten bitten by the MLG outter door linkage.

The ODS rails that used to be on the HCs have split a few heads open.

[TSgtRet]

Recall getting a few head bites in the "hell hole" working on radar pressurization problems.

Also remember skinning up my hand pretty good trying to R&R the APX 72 rt unit on a red ball with the aircraft rigged with the center seats and a load of 82nd Airborne....not intended to be changed one handed!

We had them on F-4s too; called them "Phantom Bites". The one that I recall best (worst) is finding that I, the centerline tank and the fin of an AIM 7 could not occupy the same space at the same time during an alert launch....had a huge red welt on my left side for a week.

[C130CC]

I caught an inboard flap with my face a couple months ago. They rigged the cable assy backwards so the outboard side of the inboard flap hung lower than it should have. We had it slid up on the track but the wind caught it and it slid off, whacking me in the mouth and chin. I immediately hoped I still had my teeth, which I did, but I got a fat lip and a nice mark on my chin for a couple of weeks.

[topboltsto400]

Gunships...105 Barrel....midshift.....ouch

[jetcal1]

You know when you're used to getting bit when you walk into the shop and someone tells you you're bleeding.

You look at it and think, "when or where did I do that?"

[BobWoods]

I sliced the side of my head open on the GTC door

[CBowman]

My trainer dislocated his shoulder bouncing down the flight deck stairs. He grabbed the handle on the galley floor on his way down. It came unlatched and trapped his wrist. All of my "bites" were the routine ones that everyone seemed to get. Cedric trained me well - I never did the galley floor bite.

[INS/Dopplertroop]

And how MANY rips, tears, torn pockets, etc. in fatigue pants and jackets. Most of my bites, tears, rips, and gouges came in the hell hole. Banged up ribs from hours scrunched, laying over equipment racks rewiring entire mount connectors. Burns from losing a grip on the soldering iron you were holding. Gouges and tears from the ends of twisted safety wire pigtails. Bruised knees can be thrown in too.

[Fleagle]

Well - worked with the things my early years in service (Skycop/79 - ICDI) with the old NOD then in later years worked with the PVS 5's and 7's. Y e a r s later after I'd retrained we were ramping up the "how to" for the formal school house training while the Op's dudes were out there (making me one frustrated jealous hacker). Had an EL from our "sister" unit take two of us up for a simple training HE and CDS drop using that initial checklist. Not a bloody thing was NVG compatable in the back so we were using metalic duct tape around the Red/Green light fixtures, taping the "bite lights" to just about every thing from escape handles to the oxy-regulators. This fine KLRF night we got both drops out no prob. We'd turned the cargo compartment lights back on, I was pulling the remains of the gate through the Van Zelm (sp?)doing clean up, when I looked over and saw the EL pulling the bite light taped to the right side wall exit. One loud whump and I saw the side escape hatch headed my way - hit me just above the boot right side (I was facing foward) - I did have a lot to say about it, very descriptive stuff - thanks to some furious luck I was not connected to the interphone. Simple fix but bloody hell I'm suprised my helmet didn't ignite for all the four letter'd descriptors I loosed on the world! LOL! Man I miss flying!

You AD/Operators out there - safe flight, smooth landings!

Bert aka Fleagle aka Rowdy

[hlg6016]

Remember those heavy insulated water and coffee jugs we used to put up in the galley? I was coming in the crew door with my chocks and nlg pin and looked up just in time to catch one square in the face. Loadmaster later said I did one hell of a backwards somersault back out the crew door, turned out that the shop had pulled the jugs and washed them the night prior but didn't secure the latches when they put them back in. It took 5 stitches to close my lip.

[fenmonster]

This one time I was showing a new guy a wiring bundle to re-attach in the fillet panel area above the wheel well and left him to his work. (did I mention I am almost a foot taller than this guy?) anyway later he asked me to check his work so I bounded up the stand to see what he had done. Unknown to me he had raised the stand a foot so I hit my head when I got to the top. I left a core sample of skin and hair on one of the fuel tank vent lines. didn't bleed that much but damn near passed out and was half cukoo for a few minuites.

Jerry "Fenmonster" Fenwick

[C130CC]

Just remembered one. This happened the same trip as the flap incident.

I was doing a right aft brake change and needed something out of the airplane. The ramp was down but the cargo door was also down. I had my head down looking at the ground and bounded into the back of the airplane. As I stepped up I jammed the top of my head into the bottom side of the cargo door, impacting my neck and spine. I thought I was going to have a spinal injury from that but seem to be ok 4 months later.

[MAXTORQ]

Had a Herk blow me off of a stand once .......or rather the idiot in the flight deck.

[Dan Wilson]

Ahhh Herk bites,

She has munched on me plenty over the years but five or six times stand out.

First one was the time she electrocuted me.

I had just come down from the top of the airplane (nice and wet from the snow) so I had one hand on the flight deck wall side of the galley and reached around with my left hand to check the coffee pot, (fleet service had a bad habit of bringing out dead jugs that didn't heat) and as soon as my left hand hit the jug I was pretty much stuck.

Seems that there was no ground pin on this jug and I became a nice wet ground, that is until I (finally) blew the 1 amp fuse:eek:

Well long story short here, I didn't make the triple heavy lapes I was supposed to fly that day:(

I think the bite that almost hurt the worst (and still hurts), I was coming off the cargo door from checking out a leak while we were taxiing out and I stood up just about six inches too early. I stood straight up into that large beam that goes across the back of the airplane. Next thing I know I am coming to on the cargo floor with a huge knot on my neck. That was a really nice compression injury, just made sure I didn't tell them I went out, LOC is a really bad thing for a flyer.

Dan

[pjvr99]

Not too many bites, but STILL get a regular "Allison rash". Cr@ppy safety wire in

tight places makes me look like I've been playing with a lion cub.

I have been jolted several times over the years. First one was going up onto the

flight deck. Avionics had been under the flight deck and not secured the ladder. It

collapsed under me and sheared through a harnass to one of the boxes. The guys

say I came back out at mach M-crit, only touching ground between #1 and #2

engine.

More recently I have been zapped by TD Amp Testers (yellow box). With the box

on the B5, DO NOT touch the aircraft and the stand together, with bare hands.

Shocking!!! ........ really .....................

[Railrunner130]

About once a year I'm good for a fall/ slide from top of the flight deck ladder down and out the crew entrance door. I think I only got a raspberry butt once though.

I was hand loading bags inside the airplane and lost my balance amongst the bags once somewhere in Iraq. My thumb broke my fall and was sore for a good month. Thankfully, nothing came of it.

This last one was a pure bonehead manouver. I approached the airplane to throw my knee up and climb in the left paratroop door. I misjudged my distance from the left side and smacked my kneecap into the side of the airplane. I hit so hard that I fell. I managed to get up and in. It was sore, but not too bad until after the mission was over later that day. It swelled up pretty good and was sore for over a month.

Edited January 23, 2010 by Railrunner130

[venom 66]

hey all. I have two stories of herk bites.They happened 20 yrs ago, but still fresh in my mind. the first one was at yokota one nite on grave shift.I was working a bird for a 0600 launch that nite.I had to do a bpo,prop ck,flap lube and rig a cp-4 by myself,so i was a little tired when i was cleaning the windows in the flt deck,sitting in the pilots seat,and closed the the swing window and in the time it took to switch the rag from one hand to the other, that sum bitch swung open and cracked me right in the skull!I yelled some 4 letter words,put my hand on my face and had blood from fingertip to wrist!just then the flt eng comes up the stairs,see's me and says friggen swing window,huh? the second was one day,also at yokota, I went to sit down on the crew door an sign off some write ups and wasn't quite far back enough when I sat down and caught the last bone of my spine on the very edge of that crew door! I jumped at least 6' in the air and everything went white!! I hobbled around like an old cowboy till I could stand up straight and walk. scared the holy hell out of me in addition to hurtin like hell!!!!

[Dirty Redd]

I seem to remember the swing window incident at Yokota...had it happed to me before as well. Me; well if there is a voltage on a herk, I most likely got hit by it. Like the time at Yokota when I needed to change the pilots radar scope to a SKE scope after I ran up the radar. Well, after I shut down the radar I didn't pull the breakers (in a hurry) and when I disconnected the high voltage cable some metal shavings hit the center conductor and arc'd to my middle finger on my right hand and exited out my right elbow into the co-plt's swing window. I flew back into the seat while raking my knuckles on the overhead panel. I think it was a crew chief that was doing forms said my hair was smoking! I found my glasses on the top nav bunk and both my hands were bloody from the overhead panel. The E & E shop was pissed afterwords because I fried the NESA heating in the swing window and it had to be changed. I swear my mouth tasted like a burned out light bulb for 3 days! After that they started calling me "Redd the walking resistor".

[rfan_1]

40 yrs ago, Naha AB 374th FMS I was an electrician back then (42350). Problem with a Herk in the hangar. I'm sent to check it out, no CC around, planes's dark, so I go onboard and walk in the cargo area and I'm falling! A section of floor was removed, no placards, no warnings. I got pretty banged up and my tools went everywhere. Needless to say I was pretty pissed so I kicked a few piles of floor screws.

Another time I was in the phase docks checking out the NESA. Like an idiot I didn't remove my high school ring and when it got across the edge of the glass and the frame it lit me up pretty good! That was the last time I wore any jewelry until I got out.

[HighTide]

I'm somewhat ashamed to tell this one but I hurt like the devil. I was E-2, just recently assigned to C-130A 54-1636 at Sewart, circa 1964. The acft was slick floor and I needed some eng oil which was in the left overhead rack. Well, I stood the ladder up by/near the overhead rack and climbed up to get the oil down. Well, I failed to secure the safety arm that keeps the ladder from spreading ---- guess you know what happened. My 5' 5" frame was well up the ladder when the ladder legs spread and i hit as hard as I ever dreamed one could and still live. I was alone on the acft and I didn't know if I would ever get up, just glad my arm(s) were not under the ladder legs.

HighTide

[Fryguy]

One of my co-workers was working inside the NLG wheel well with me during an ISO. The gear door was off for easy access and the radome was opened. After a little grab a$$ inside the wheel well he scooted out from under there and ran smack dab into that opened radome! It was loud and to this day I am amazed that he stayed on his feet!

I've been bitten about 10 times by that MLG door pin and get pissed everytime!

[eidosusa]

Ramp in ADS, door closed... my tall lanky self doing a spinal cord check along the door while quickly climbing into the cargo box, i still have the scar. it dropped me to the floor like a ton of bricks. i haven't suffered this injury but i know a few crew chiefs like myself have had a close call when 10k devices and chains are being thrown out the paratroop door unannounced for mooring.

[JimH]

I was up in the nose wheel well once while working in the phase docks and I slid down one of the tires to get out -- remember the "ice grip" tires with all the little pieces of wire sticking out?? Well, I do!!

Jim

[Jcapsparkchaser]

rfan, was that the night we had to pull a light all into the hanger to help you find your tools? TSGT Lucero had an interesting antedote for that one. -Also saw your pics from the shop looks like Jimenez and Gardner haven't changed after all these years!!! Capwell