Brute Force and Ignorance

A while ago when I worked at Delta Airlines I was as green as green could be. When we took lunch or had a break we would talk about what we were working on. That was the first time I heard the phrase "brute force and ignorance". When I would ask how this one guy fixed something he would almost always respond: "with brute force and ignorance". Being a young, newly minted airline mechanic I took this as just another saying.

Fast forward 20 years and it is amazing how true that saying is. How many times have we as mechanics got something to work by hitting it? How many engine driven hyd pumps have you installed by kicking or hitting it into place? How many times have you got something working and were totally ignorant as to how you did it?

Of course most of the time when there is a problem, you replace a part and that solves the issue. Most of the time when your flight crew explains a problem you have some idea of what is wrong. This is why we are professionals and this is why we are paid for our knowledge, but there is the always that one problem that simply goes away. There are always things that get stuck and the only way to un-stick it is to beat it up.

It's one of those things I really love about working jets. Those are the mysteries that keep the job interesting. Any one can change a VHF Receiver, but lets see them change that engine driven hydraulic pump on a turn, while it's hot, utilizing a scrap piece of 2x4 and a huge hammer named "big daddy" by it's owner. Those are the things you remember. Brute Force and Ignorance is not something that should be practiced every day out on the line but those that can apply it when necessary are the all around mechanics that I want to work with.