This one is for all you mechanics out there, especially the ones who have trained a new helper before. I have seen this three times on a Cessna where somebody hooked up the nitrogen bottle to the nose strut and just turned on the valve. Twice, the plane rocked back on its tail as the strut shot up, and one time it even blew out the seals (which could have been installed improperly before) spraying hydraulic fluid everywhere.
Just another reason for Julio to not let Chuck near any planes or any tools…
I did almost as bad in reverse once. I had a Piper with a flat main strut, and some people wanting to fly right then. So in a hurry I jacked up the plane, pulled the bolt from the links, and just then I realized I forgot to release what was left of the gas charge. As the lower strut came popping out, and spraying me down with hydraulic fluid.
Aaah, ragwings don’t have hydaulic systems (yet)
Heheheheheheheh! (Julio resists ‘urge to kill’)
That’s right! I forgot about “the big reverse” !!
That’s a lot of fun. Have seen that one too. Knocked the guy on his behind!
I think this could really hurt you if you’re in the way. But I think most planes have a lock ring to keep the strut from coming all the way out, don’t they?
Did this once, years ago, with a brand new A321. I tried to adjust the hight of the nose landing gear on ground, but the seals (that were also brand new at this time) just clamped the piston rod in the nose gear strut. I opened the charging regulator carefully, but as nothing happened, i opened it even a bit more. Suddenly the seals couldn’t resist the increasing pressure anymore and the whole aircraft went nose up by 50cm within a split second.
Luckily, there were no stairs at the aft doors nor has there been any cherry picker underneath the APU compartment. I spent 8 hours to lower the aircraft to the correct level. Whenever the correct height was reached, 20 minutes later, she was nose up again.
Man…..that never happened to me again. Whenever i felt that the NLG piston got stuck in the strut, i requested the aircraft to be jacked for landing gear servicing. Better safe than sorry.
Yes, there is a lock ring there. But it doesn’t help much when you have removed it.
The poor airplane
I think a little more than the tail RING is bent…
I know just how the Cessna feels as I’ve just had an operation on my undercarriage, and with Chuck as the surgeon who can blame her for looking so unhappy. I’m now waiting for the vet change the dressings around my hoof and I do hope that Julio gives the the poor thing the TLC it deserves.
That’s a great story Bus Mech!
I never thought about this happening on the big planes before (the biggest plane I ever worked on was a Cessna Citation). Maybe there is a whole new world out there for Chuck and Julio to explore! We haven’t done a lot of airline jokes yet
@Mike
I can tell you loads of stories. Some very funny ones, and some that might concern one or the other.
Just a last funny one for Chuck and Julio:
We got some temporary ELTs installed on our aircraft for test flights. One fine day, a colleague of mine, removed it from the plane and walked down the stairs from fwd. PAX door. On the last steps, he began to stumble and fell on the tarmac. When scratching his knees, he recognized that the ELT was still armed and the hard hit on the APRON tarmac was enough to activate it.
In some kind of panic, he ran to the office and asked the guys on duty what to do.
They told him (with a certain kind of wink to his buddy on the other side of the desk) that the ATC will send a SAR helicopter to watch out for black smoke and an aircraft wreck from where the beacon comes from.
Short story to be known here: Our ATC its giving us a timeframe of 5 minutes past the full hour to check our ELTs. Every ELT signal that appears after 5 minutes past the hour is treated as a serious emergency case. So you better call ATC quickly, to explain the situ!!
So our friends on duty just had a quick look at the clock, that shows roundabout 20 minutes past. “Oh dear……you really screwed it up.”
And now the real funny thing happened: Back in the old days, the local SAR helicopters came into our airport from time to time, just to fuel their Huey for the next mission. Happened just once or twice a week. Just in the second, our guys were in talks how much this little ELT mishap might cost, this very SAR crew came in with their Chopper for refueling.
My poor colleague became pale like Ozzy Osborne in his glory days. You can imagine the laughter in the office.
Finally, they made a quick call to ATC and explained what happened, so they got a good laugh too.
Yes,…..that was back in the days…..
HA HA! not bad!
I have a few similar ELT stories. Feel free to mail us more stories.
If they end up in a strip, we’ll certainly give you credit for it (see “roman numerals runway”)
BusMech that would be ME if I was i your field of work… being sent out for a “long weight” and so on