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pushing the tug


Joe Davidson
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Funny thing happened while I was stationed in Alaska. One winter while I needed to get my A/C off the ramp and into the hangar my asst and I was crossing the main runway well it had snowed and iced a certain part of the runway and the tug had lost traction. He tried to get it rolling I finally fired up the I/B engs and we scooted into the hangar. When we made it in my asst was white as a ghost he told me that was one scary feeling to have that much power being behind him. I cant blame him I wouldve been scared too :rolleyes: any other stories Id like to hear them.

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hmmm i got the "oops, i forgot to set the brakes engine runs" dont find out till you agressively take the throttles to reverse. there is a pucker factor there...

i have one with guys riding the tug like a surfboard, with guys walking behind smoking

ahhh in the desert changing the FLIR ball on a combat shadow without a trailor...one guy bear hugging the ball while 2 others unbolt it.

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Well its not a Herk story but waaaaay back when I crewed E3's the washrack was a huge challenge in the winter.

There was a pretty good slope on the ramp to get it into the wash rack, and in winter you could only get a jet in there if the MAC ramp was empty because it took a lot of room to move the bird up that slope.

The ramp (slope) would almost always be covered in ice, so you would take this 250,000 lb airplane hooked behind you and go full speed and take the sharp turn towards the wash rack. Imagine this, you have two and a half Herks behind your Uke and its fishtailing all over the place while you go balls to the wall trying to get in the hanger.

Normally you would get up to the door tracks of the wash rack and maybe get the nose wheel up before you stalled and the jet would drag you back down the slope. I have spent HOURS trying to get a jet in the wash rack and sometimes didn't even get it in before shift change.

Realize these MB2's are the BIG ones and they still couldn't get er done most of the time - man I always hated wash rack.

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Like Dan's story, this isn't Herc related.

Back about 9 or 10 years ago, we were ferrying a DC-10-30 from Singapore to Swissair maintenance in Zurich, Switzerland with a damaged center gear. Swissair dispatch advised us on approach that there was a blizzard at the airport & when we landed we were to taxi to the maintenance area; the hanger doors would be open & we were to taxi directly into the hanger! The captain was a bit leery of that plan so he shut down the engines as the nose gear crossed the hanger door tracks.

The Swissair mechanics said that was "normal procedure" when it was slippery on the ramp. Yeah, right!

Don R.

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