Speaking of Cessnas reminds me:
One evening in early winter of 1978, while I was Director of Engineering at
Sondrestrom Air Base, Greenland, I was in my room reading and listening to
classical music when Base Commander called and asked me to go over to the
Officer's Club and talk to a NASA guy about a problem with one of their
aircraft. They were there with a Cessna Citation and a Boeing 707 doing
high altitude atmospheric research with the National Science Foundation.
At the club, Base Commander, who knew that I had also been a B-47E
maintenance crew chief before I was commissioned and started flying B-52's.,
introduced me to the NASA guy. NASA guy had just discovered a problem with
the braking (or steering - can't be sure which now, but more likely
steering) system on forward landing gear of their Cessna Citation, a small
business-type jet aircraft. A small, U-shaped piece of stainless steel
tubing under hydraulic pressure of 3000 psi was cracked and leaking. They
needed to fly one more mission with the Cessna to be finished for the
season. If they couldn't find or make a replacement for the part locally,
they were going to fly the 707 to Los Angeles and back over the next couple
of days to get a part. After the NASA guy described the problem, I told him
that I may be able to help - I'd certainly try - I don't give up very
easily.
We jumped in my truck and went to the hanger to look at the leaking part. It
was a U-shaped piece of ¼-inch stainless steel tubing with each leg of the U
less than 2 inches long with a flare and a compression nut on each end. I
vaguely remembered that I had seen some ¼-inch stainless steel tubing in a
hanger that was used by the NY Air National Guard for their summer C-130
operations on the Greenland ice cap. We removed the offending part and took
it with us to the National Guard hanger. In the hanger, I could see several
six-feet-long pieces of the appropriate stainless steel tubing several feet
away on the inside of a shop secured by an 8-feet-tall chain link fence
topped by strands of barbed wire. We drug a work table from across the
hanger up to the fence; I jumped up on the table and went over the fence
onto another table inside the fence, walked across the shop, got a piece of
the tubing and stuck it thru the fence to the NASA guy. I quickly and
easily went back up on the table inside the shop and back over the fence.
Still not sure we'd be able to make a proper part, I stopped by my Danish
civilian contractor chief engineer's living quarters to ask him if he may
like to help. Years before, he'd been chief engineer on Danish sea-going
merchant vessels. He was VERY enthusiastic as we rushed to our Base Civil
Engineering ground equipment shop, hoping to find the tools to help us make
the appropriate part. When we walked into the shop, we interrupted a card
game of several Danish civilian contractor workmen/mechanics. When they
realized what we were doing, they were all anxious to help and rushed to
find three or four plumbing flaring tools in this shop and the plumbing shop
nearby. These tools were for copper tubing, of course, but we forged ahead.
Soon, there were at least half a dozen well-experienced mechanics in
friendly competition to make, bend, flare, etc., the perfect replacement
part for the Cessna. Special problems, of course, were: the 180 degree bend
in such a short piece of stainless steel tubing, short sides of the U
leaving little room to form the flare on each end and have the compression
nut in the right place on each side also. The replacement had to be exactly
like the original - couldn't be longer because of landing gear retraction
restrictions (space in the wheel well). After several tries, we had an
acceptable match visually. We rushed to the aircraft and installed it for a
PERFECT fit and no leaking. The aircraft flew its mission the next day and
flew home to Los Angeles the next, all without incident.
This is just another small part of my very enjoyable foreign relations
experience and an excellent example of Danish mechanics' innovative spirit
and desire to excel.
Wilton
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jon Agne" <jonag...@gwi.net>
To: "Mercedes Discussion List" <mercedes@okiebenz.com>
Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2013 6:06 PM
Subject: Re: [MBZ] Ok don
Did I hear Cessna???
On Feb 10, 2013, at 5:53 PM, Kaleb C. Striplin wrote:
Is your Cessna air worthy?
Sent from my iPhone
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