Those of us who have been to Boise know that once we get there (from Oakland) there is no way to get back until late in the day. The only return flight after like 9am is one at 6:45pm. This makes Boise road trips very desirable. A guy on day shift (me) could fly up to Boise, fix a plane and wait until 6:45pm to fly home, thereby getting a whole shift of OT.
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| Boise Terminal |
Of course I agreed to go. I went on the trip with a guy I'll call Tang. Tang and I got all our tools and, with the help of the stores guy, all the parts needed. We were told there was a hydro leak and to take an electric pump with us. Once we got on the plane and settled I sat back and tried to relax. When we pushed back from the gate I closed my eyes to sleep on the way up when Tang says "why are we turning around?" Sure enough we were turning back toward the terminal. The Captain comes on the PA and says that there is a light on in the cockpit that should be out. Tang and I went up front to talk to the crew and found out that the FO Pitot Static light was on.
Make a long story short we had to fix the plane that we took to fix the other plane. After changing the Pitot Tube the rest of the flight was uneventful.
Tang and I got to Boise and checked the plane out, sure enough there was a leak but luckily the pump itself was leaking so we just had to swap it out and go eat lunch and wait the 4 hours until we could make it back to Oakland. Boise sure is a premium road trip, when it comes up. These days road trips are getting scarce since LAX MX is the road trip station now.
Yep. LAX is the road trip station all right. When you have that much knowledge and the drive to work hard and do a good job. why send OAK?
ReplyDeleteI miss field trips. It was exciting having to gather up your stuff, troubleshoot the problem, get parts from Stores, get a pass and list on the plane, and figure out a battle plan for when you arrived all in 30 minutes.
Sometimes working in SMF by myself is like is like a 5 five year mission to fix what what a southernly maintenance station has gaffed off to you. To seek out new repairs and new sign offs. To boldly wrench where no wrench has gone before ............. Yeah, whatever!
Truth be told, SMF is like a really bad field trip sometimes. Its 2300 and Maintenance Control call and says there is a plane on its way to you with a door squeal and would you mind fixing it (without parts or manpower).
"Sure", you tell them. "It would be my pleasure!"
My field trip from Hell.