325X1

Hmmm, this is 3 weeks old. Problem solved? If not, does anyone use a H261 series temperature tester anymore? That tester is easy to use and has verified indication and wiring on many a plane some good some bad.

The "For What it's Worth Department" just produced a specification that states that the indicator's accuracy is poor, at best, at or below 100 Deg C and above 1,200 Deg C. That's pretty much what I suspected. With a +- of 15 Deg C at 100 Deg C Scale Error Reliability, don't use it for checking the temperature outside below 100 Deg C. Oh! If the OAT is 100C plus, you're not really checking the temperature anyway. I'd ask the FE why he was trying to use that indicator to check the temperature outside anyway. If you don't want to be a smart a**, tell them the +- 15 degree error for the indicator, according to Mil-SPEC used to test the indicator during manufacture/repair, doesn't take into account the allowed errors of the wiring, T-Block, thermocouple harness nor the thermocouples. Summing it up: It's not designed to give an accurate reading until there's fire in the hole. 325X1

I guess I'm missing something.... I've been following this TIT thread for a few days and some explanations have been gived to specific conditions. Is the crew writing this 'temperature difference' up in the forms or just asking about it? 325X1

In TO 00-20-1 the AFTO Form 781H, STATUS TODAY block requires the symbol reflecting the status of the aerospace vehicle. The following is a bit out of order but explain it a bit better: "The status symbol recorded in these columns always represent the most serious condition." ... "A black last name initial indicates no known discrepancies which require a symbol exists and no inspections are due and/or overdue on the aerospace vehicle." ... "If no discrepancies exist on the aerospace vehicle, enter the last name initial of authorized individual who accomplished or supervised the pre-flight inspection." That person would usually be the crewchief or a reasonable facsimile there of. 325X1

Well, in my many years of doing the TDY thing and flying along as MEGP, I've seen quite a few things go out the sextant port in the name of impressing some 'cutie' along for the ride. The toilet paper being held on a broomstick (they wouldn't even attempt to use something that put their fingers too close to the spinning roll) going out through the port at light speed while flying along was pretty impressive. Apple cores, boiled eggs, etc. just weren't that impressive. The crew member putting things through the sextant port were also really impressed when I said something to the effect of "Ah, ha, now I know why we have to change so many of them...and have to clean the port so often" They usually got a dumb look on their face and then I'd say "Yeah, the sextant and port are part of the systems I work on." Most of the time they'd explain how it wasn't really hurting anything, blah blah...but they'd close the port and sit back down for a while. LOL! BTW, I thought there use to be a vacuum on every C-130, or it was checked out from CTK to use on the road. The vacuum was about the size of a medium coffee can with a screen in the bottom (part nearest the tube that went through the sextant port) and a fairly long hose. Maybe I'm mistaken on this. (CRS kicking in again) 325X1

The following was posted yesterday (16 Mar 2010): The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors. He is Air Force Major Curtis Daniel Miller of Palacios, Texas. He will be buried on March 29 in the Dallas-Ft. Worth National Cemetery. Miller was part of a 14-man aircrew, all of which are now accounted-for. Remains that could not be individually identified are included in a group which will be buried together in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. On March 29, 1972, 14 men were aboard an AC-130A Spectre gunship that took off from Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, on an armed reconnaissance mission over southern Laos. The aircraft was struck by an enemy surface-to-air missile and crashed. Search and rescue efforts were stopped after a few days due to heavy enemy activity in the area. In 1986, joint U.S.- Lao People’s Democratic Republic teams, lead by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), surveyed and excavated the crash site in Savannakhet Province, Laos. The team recovered human remains and other evidence including two identification tags, life support items and aircraft wreckage. From 1986 to 1988, the remains were identified as those of nine men from this crew. Between 2005 and 2006, joint teams resurveyed the crash site and excavated it twice. The teams found more human remains, personal effects and crew-related equipment. As a result, JPAC identified the other crewmen using forensic identification tools, circumstantial evidence, mitochondrial DNA and dental comparisons. From http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/ 325X1

Not to mention when the Wing King enjoyed doing his monthly flagpole trip doing a one-engine-out go-around. Slamming them to the wall in a 90-something model H3 tends to keep engine troops busy. I think he did that three months in a row one time. 325X1

To help you understand what they're talking about, on airplanes AF63-7764 and up all tanks feed into a common manifold (jettison manifold) which has an outlet on each wing tip. A fuel dump shutoff valve is located in the line going to each of the two dump masts on those airplanes. 325X1

I was just replying to jetcal1's comment...not to mention the original post said this: "So what I'm sure of is that the TD-system functions correcttly, thermocouples=>ok, Thermal block => ok, Y cable=>ok!" That rules out a LOT when it's also happening on the entire fleet, or half the fleet. I would start thinking like you did, training of one individual or fuel composition, or something not on the airplanes. Hmmm, what fuel is being put in these in Belguim? Jet A-1? That would change the equasion a bit. 325X1

True Statements. I've seen that happen. One side of thermocouple(s) bad the other good. Well, I'm not sure what you're describing as 'old' TIT indicators, but the ones in the Es and Hs I worked for over 10 years didn't seem to be affected by environmental temperature changes. The TIT indicators didn't seem to break as often as other engine indicating systems. A H261 Temp tester can tell you if there's a problem from the T-block up to and including the TIT indicator in short order. I'd have to do some digging, but testing a TIT indicator to below zero don't ring any bells and right off hand don't sound very useful, but don't hold me to that just yet. 325X1

According to my calculations that's 544.8 knots 627 mph. At what speed should the wing off light illuminate? Hey! Maybe the problem with the indicators was that the A/S ind was reading too high. 325X1

When changing a system that is already installed in the airplane that has worked for decades, there are a lot of factors to consider, the wires are relatively cheap and pretty easy to repair depending on where it is broken. Usually there's an extra cord somewhere you can use until you get home. We can 'what if' this subject to death, but wireless must use some type of battery. The battery could give out at the "worst moment" too without any way to get back on the intercom system so you'll need a backup of some type. I guess you'd want wire if the battery was dead. Then you have to figure in the security of the RF produced which probably would reduce battery life. If the RF wasn't secure, how far could it travel and who could hear it? Could the wireless be jammed by someone transmitting on the same frequency? I'm just not sure how reliable a wireless system would be since the C-130 isn't known for being a nice RF neutral area to be. The headsets would have to be able to withstand a lot of interference too. If you take a ground off the intercom system somewhere the noises can be almost unbearable sometimes. I'm sure we can get a comment or two about the noise in the headsets from a crew member or two. I'm not trying to squelch any ideas, just throwing my .02 cents in....and we problably haven't even hit on some of the other cons of using wireless. 325X1

Tiny, They do warp, but I've only seen them warp with any regularity after wearing the brakes where the indicator nut was worn into the housing. That was wearing the brakes kind of thin. Supply wasn't too snappy in East Africa in the mid to late 90's while we were trying to feed the Somalians. Oh yeah...another pretty good clue is having to use a bobtail, tiedown chains, a pallet J-bar to pry the wheel off the brake. WLT

I did a quick search on the web and came up with this definition of 'freight dogs': Daredevil cargo pilots who carry absolutely anything from exotic animals to exotic cars to anywhere in the world.

I was stretching pretty hard to remember my first AFSC. I thought I had it right until I just this moment did another www search. That just makes me mad. I joined the board with 325X1 and asked Casey to change it to 328X1 because I did a single search on 328X1, found Integrated Avionics and figured that was it...it wasn't. I guess I'll be back to asking Casey to put it back to 325X1...dang. LOL! You know when you change AFSCs so many freaking times, it's hard to keep up with them! I'm an old-ish (compared to some) Instrument troop. 10 years on slick C-130Es and C-130H3s. Those H3s were pretty sweet. We had one fly in with 18hrs on it...you could still smell the paint drying. LOL!

Yes. The primary source for the attitude indication is a gyro, MD-1 gyro in most cases. The MD-1 gyro is a gyro that has gimbal torquers attached to the parts that hold the spinning mass (gyro). That gyro has fast and slow torquers for erection. The Rate Transmitter gyro (Not to be confused with the Rate-Of-Turn gyro.) is a smaller gyro that provides 'turn rate cut-out'. Turn Rate Cut-out basically 'disconnects power to the slow torquer motors on the gimbal while the aircraft is in turns. That prevents erection of the gyro to the case while the gyro case is not level. Here goes a lot of IFing: If the Rate Transmitter gyro internal contacts were stuck in 'cut-out' (and that does happen occasionally) the MD-1 gyro will continue to spin at the same speed, thus not displaying a big red OFF flag on the indicator, but the mass will precess and the indication will roll slowly off to one side or the other at a rate that is barley noticeable. Improper power to the gyro could also cause the gyro to spin at a slower rate than normal, but still not show a flag and cause incorrect information to be displayed, but that's a bit rarer. Now, having said that, the pilot and copilot have the ability to use other sources for their attitude information. If one indication seemed to look inaccurate, they should have switched sources to determine which source was showing bad information. Ah, autopilot... In a normal flight configuration the vertical reference gyro used to maintain straight and level flight was a K-6A gyro in the E-4 Autopilot system. In the FD-109/AP-105 system, I'm pretty sure the the MD-1 was used for vertical reference. I'll have to do a little research on the digital autopilot vertical reference source. UPDATE: The FD-109/AP-105 system uses the MD-1 for vertical reference and in the AN/AYW-1(V)1 autopilot it's the VG-1 or INS. (We'll leave gunboats out of this.) To answer your question, if the autopilot was using a bad source for vertical reference such as the MD-1 gyro and the pilot was using VG as opposed to INS, the autopilot would follow the source, if it was slowly rolling the ADI and autopilot would be doing the same thing. I'm sure I missed something in the autopilot portion and I don't have the books in front of me, so someone correct what I said wherever it's needed. 328X1 UPDATE: A lot depends on who had what selected/coupled as a nav aid, so there are a lot of possible scenarios.

No, I haven't seen a C-130 with a IVSI indicator in it. The old VVI was replaced with a VSI/TA indicator in C-130's with TCAS installed. The VSI/TA Indicator is a fancy LCD VVI that also shows traffic information as well as a single needle for vertical speed. The Trend information is seen in the needle movement from the time the single needle starts moving until it stabilizes. Rate information is seen when the needle stabilizes. It's the same in all VVIs/VSIs, but the accelerometers in a IVSI change the information that is seen when watching that needle move. 328X1

Rate of sink and rate of descent are one and the same. They are different ways of saying rate of altitude change, or speed of which an aircraft is changing altitude, in a negitive direction. The vertical speed indicator (VSI or VVI) displays two different types of information: 1. Trend information which shows an immediate indication of an increase or decrease in the airplane's rate of climb or descent. 2. Rate information shows a stabilized rate of change in altitude. The indication between two stabilized rates of change is commonly referred to lag. Instantaneous vertical speed indicators (IVSIs) incorporate accelerometers to compensate for the lag in the typical VSI/VVI. As for max sink rate with XXX fuel in XXX tanks during a particular phase of flight...that should be in the -1 Flight manual. Just trying to help. :)