Almost like a mechanic

[airtac]

drip, drip...        sweat, sweat...    splash, oops....   

Well, I will just have to come up to those cool, soothing altitudes where you spin your magic, and join you for some rarified, cool air.....   

 

OH NO, my petite but sweaty siren, I mean we have A/C that we turn on ON THE GROUND while we taxi and climb out so that the airplane is cool even BEFORE we get to altitude
I am going to request further enhancements such as mint juleps at altitude and lounge chairs with umbrellas

[TheSoccerMom]

Oh, SURE, just go ahead and RUB IT IN!  COOL -- on the GROUND?!?          Well, I guess I can have that around January or thereabouts, so...   that's not killing me near as much as the vision of the mint juleps and the umbrellas!!!!   

Oh Great Icy-Cool Pooh-bah, just think of us poor pathetic sweatballs when you are puttering out to take off....        as you tug that sweatshirt up around your neck a bit higher, to ward off the chill....  while I glare up in frustration at MY (entire!) air conditioning system:  one of those 3-inch 59-cent rubber fans they buy in bulk at the farm store and wire into the ceiling.....  ahhhh..... it's the glamour, it's the glamour....  !!   

 

   

[Baradium]

Dancing Bear,
My hat is off to you for not killing the aforementioned pilots
I've always admired aircraft mechanics for doing a difficult job---there's a lot of HPFM factor in what you do (Hocus Pocus-ahem- Magic) --I've always thought that most mechanics must be contortionists too.
As far as the A/C complaint---just more proof that turbine pilots whine more than turbine engines

My company is too cheap to keep a/c working...   

And there's not much worse than being hot and having to hit the "increase" side of the temp rocker becuase the aircraft isn't maintaining cabin pressure.

[Frank N. O.]

Wow, that sucked that with the pilot and wreaker in training! In the off chance I'll be blessed and become a commercial pilot, wouldn't it normally be easy to tell if a mechanic was working on the plane I wanted to get near? Especially since I plan on being at a smaller company with transport duties and such and not big passenger airliners.

What little I've worked on the old Ford Orion with my dad when he was still alive then I know you shouldn't rock something you're working with. When me and brother (after our dad died) had to replace the exhuast on the Orion it was assembled in full length including the lower part of the exhuast manifold (just the 4-2 manifold on the engineblock was still stock) and I'd stabilized the top of the vertical part of the exhuast manifold part inbetween something while lying under the front of the car and then a tiny nudge was enough to rock it loose and it fell down directly on my pinkie finger (and only that finger so it got the full weight of the vertical exhuast pipe and manifold)!!!! It was midnight and I yelled so loud I'm sure I must've woken people up! I was sure my fingernail was a goner but I was lucky, nothing apart from intense pain, incredible luck because it was just at the bend for the vertical part of the manifold so there was a lot of weight after it fell about a foot before hitting!

And speaking of AC, then I didn't even think planes had any ventilation in them since there were no knobs/levers or vents like in a car dashboard, apart from the Cirrus but that's about the only one. We got AC in the Lancer but cold normal air in the face is good enough for me (although I do know that cool air can mask sunray damage but that's where a good windshield material comes in to filter rays away). Btw, the Peugeot we drove before was pitch black with blue fabric on black plastic and the normal non-AC cold air was good enough for me. Now I have to remember to keep that AC running at least once a week or more things will get damaged and need repair, not to mention that I hear some car AC's weigh 40+ kg.

Frank

[Mike]

good ol' A/C . . .
Panaca Jane doesn't have one either. It used to but it got sacrificed for "mo' power!"
I flew an AStar B3 with A/C for a while. That was awesome!! Even after 8hrs of bucket work I was still pretty "refreshed".
Now here in Nevada and 120 in the shade . . . not so much...

That big fan on top doesn't make up completely for the "ant-underneath-the-maginfing-glass" you get from the big windshields up front . . . 

[airtac]

Oh, SURE, just go ahead and RUB IT IN!  COOL -- on the GROUND?!?          Well, I guess I can have that around January or thereabouts, so...   that's not killing me near as much as the vision of the mint juleps and the umbrellas!!!!   

Oh Great Icy-Cool Pooh-bah, just think of us poor pathetic sweatballs when you are puttering out to take off....        as you tug that sweatshirt up around your neck a bit higher, to ward off the chill....  while I glare up in frustration at MY (entire!) air conditioning system:  one of those 3-inch 59-cent rubber fans they buy in bulk at the farm store and wire into the ceiling.....  ahhhh..... it's the glamour, it's the glamour....  !!   

 

   

It is you, my Perspiring Petunia, of whom I shall think as I "putter" out for takeoff on those hot days on my way to the great conflagration---I may even turn the temperature UP to "barely cool"  just to be one with you

[TheSoccerMom]

"Perspiring Petunia"?!?!?!?      Oh man, you just made beer come out my nose..  NOT NICE, Daddy Airtac.....!!!  Easy, easy!!!

Well, along that line then, there was some serious Ramp-Gardening going on here today.  Boise got up to 97 F, and we all got to watch in disbelief as a small desert smoke got rather impressive.  It was just south of the airport and it eventually got an air attack and two SEATs, who made some pretty quick turns and no doubt were thinking "Ho, wow, I guess it's fire season now" when they made about their tenth drop in an hour....  heh heh.

I did my utmost to spread the despair at being forgotten..  hey, I figured if we can't go to the fire, well, I'd might as well make everyone else miserable.  So..  managed to call a few guys (whom you know) who are also bored on standby, and rub in the fact at least we got to LOOK at a column of smoke.   

Well..  back to my Pouring-Petunia-Precipitation here.     See you soon, I hope...  you'll know me...  I'll be the soggy, dripping one.   

                                                                                                                 

[Baradium]

And speaking of AC, then I didn't even think planes had any ventilation in them since there were no knobs/levers or vents like in a car dashboard, apart from the Cirrus but that's about the only one. We got AC in the Lancer but cold normal air in the face is good enough for me (although I do know that cool air can mask sunray damage but that's where a good windshield material comes in to filter rays away). Btw, the Peugeot we drove before was pitch black with blue fabric on black plastic and the normal non-AC cold air was good enough for me. Now I have to remember to keep that AC running at least once a week or more things will get damaged and need repair, not to mention that I hear some car AC's weigh 40+ kg.

Frank

In small airplanes there are usually ram air vents for the fresh air.  We actually have these in the 1900 as well, but they only can be used when you aren't pressurized (plus they don't really move a lot of air, just a little by your feet).

In a stereotypical cessna single the vents are above your head to the front, they are ram air on the front of the wing and provide a nice blast of air in flight.   This is independant of any air conditioning or the aircraft's heater.


Usually part of it is you tend to have a lot more upward facing glass and many times you don't have such a big area (such as entire window in a car) to open to get the fresh air.   

It's frustrating when it's 90 degrees (32 C) in the cabin and the outside air temp is -20 C and you can't open the window or fresh air vent because you're pressurized at 20,000 ft. 

[tundra_flier]

I can really feel for you guys.  I mean, it got up over 70 here the other day!    Was so hot I had both air vents open while doing the young eagles fliights yesterday.  Heck, I even left the window open during one takeoff and climbe out.

Phil