ec130crewchief

We always let the crew open the door first... and usually the pilot would open his swing window before the crew door opened.

I learned that for engine/aircraft pressurization runs, the person sitting left seat would open the swing window, letting you know the airplane was depressurized so you could open the crew door.

Another thing I remember is that the static grounding wires had to be installed prior to opening the door... but that could be the grey matter in this old noggin going...

I\'m going to have to go digging around my reference materials... what has been said about curvature breaks is accurate; and the brake occurs at the floor level.

If you need more pictures, or pictures that show the change and chine angle better, drop me a line...

Wow, I\'d forgotten about the Service News... would like to get all of them, if I could...

Hope they approve, Casey!

I\'ve always done liferaft rigs with the dummy bottles. Most were in rig, but there were a few that were out of tolerance.

I seem to remember a bunch of TCTO\'s on the life raft system in the late 1980\'s, when we had the two or three inadvertant deployments (one of which was a bird from our unit at Kirtland). I also remember that something was done to the cables that might possibly throw the rigging off.

Another thing that just popped into my mind-the cable configuration changed model to model, and it almost seems from year to year. The job guides don\'t cover all the models, IIRC, because I had to go to the old -2 maintenance manuals to rig the liferafts on a 1968 FY model bird.

DC10FE wrote:

This has been around a while, but a friend sent it to me this morning & I think it needs to be read again.

Don R.

YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN AN AVIATION MECHANIC IF YOU HAVE EVER WORKED AT OR DONE AT LEAST 1 OF THE FOLLOWING..........

Ever drank castor-oil -- and not because of your mother.

Slept on concrete under your jet.

Ever said, \"Oh, yes sir, it’s supposed to look like that.\"

You know what a pointy head is.

You consider \"2380\" finger prints on food an \"acquired taste.\"

Have sucked O2 to cure a hang-over.

You know what JetA1 tastes like.

Used a black grease pencil to fix a worn tire.

You have a better store\'s supply in your coveralls or tool box than store\'s does.

Used a piece of safetywire as a tooth pick.

You refer to a pilot as a \"Control Stick Actuator.\"

You\'ve ever been told to go and get \"a yard of flightline\" or a \"bucket of propwash\" from stores.

Worked a 16 hour shift on a jet and then be told by operations that we aren\'t going to fly it till the next day.

Know that R & R doesn’t always mean remove and replace, but raise and rotate.

You\'ve ever said, \"As long as it\'ll start every other try, you\'ll be fine sir.\"

You\'ve ever considered a traditional Thanksgiving dinner to be a sandwich off of the roach-coach in one hand and a wrench in the other.

You know what a roach-coach is.

And you like the food.

You have ever sat underneath the heat exchangers to get warm.

You\'ve ever towed airplanes around to match the board in operations.

You believe that your \"bird\" has a soul.

You talk to your bird (In your head still counts).

Your spouse refuses to watch any aviation shows with you.

You\'ve ever said, \"That nav light burned out when you turned it on this morning sir.\"

You\'ve ever used a wheel chock as a hammer.

The only thing you know about any city is where the good bars are.

You know more about your co-workers than your own family.

While watching commercials on TV, you look for tail numbers on your birds.

You\'ve ever wished a pilot would just say \"Great bird, thanks.\"

You\'ve ever passed gas in the work truck just to clear it out.

You can\'t figure out why your 2 week advance per-diem is gone after 2 days.

You can\'t get through a trip without finding an ATM.

On a trip, the first place that you go is to the local store on a beer run.

Most of your advance is spent in $1.00 increments in a \"club.\"

You can sleep anywhere -- anytime, but as soon as the engines shut down you are wide awake.

Everyone thinks that your job mainly consists of waving your arms at airplanes.

You have scars on you that aren’t from your spouse or significant other.

You\'ve ever used a seat cushion as a pillow.

Been gouged by the pig tail end of a safety wired cannon plug.

You\'ve ever stood on wheel chocks to keep your feet dry.

You change underwear and t-shirts more times than your coveralls.

Used dikes to trim your finger nails.

Used RTV to fix a stripped screw.

Made tampons out of paper towels for drain hole leaks.

Knocked back a rivet stem that was hanging out of a drain hole.

Wiped leaks down right before a crew show.

The person held with the highest regard is the person that can drink a 6-pack with in a 5 minute period and not puke.

You\'ve ever driven home after working a 36 hour shift, and don’t remember the drive.

You tell your peers that you are getting a divorce and the first thing that they ask is \"selling anything?\"

Everyone you know has some kind of nickname.

:cheer: Done most of this! LOL.....

When I built my HC-130P (66-0225), I used Plastruct C-shaped beams for the ODS rails on the cargo door. I\'m pretty sure that I\'ve got a decent picture of that part of the aircraft that I can scan in for you...

Helped pull the ODS system out of the HC\'s in the late 1980\'s-we all thought that it was the wrong move. The removal had nothing to do with the SOFI mod-it predated that mod by a few years.

Ahhh, the memories of working Rescue birds....

Very nice site!