On Tue, 15 Mar 2005 01:46:09 GMT, Dave in San Diego
wrote:

was usually assured. If the engineers design it right in the first place,
it's pretty hard for the maintenance guys to screw it up. YMMV.

I shall have to disagree with that little statement. This being a Sky
Guppy thread, I need to digress slightly off topic for this little
tale.

While an IP with VT-24 (TA-4J), circa 1975, I was assigned to be part
of a 4-ship photo exersise for Douglass Company photog Harry Gann. In
the back seat was our new PXO and after the photo session we were to
fly one of his IUT instrument fam flights. Simple enough. Then the fun
begins.

As we set up for our first GCA, the PXO called for gear and flaps.
Shortly thereafter we both noticed that the nose gear was barberpoled.
Book says cycle back up, so we did. Now we have three barberpoles. Not
good. Handle down again, and three good gear - not going to move the
handle again. This will be a full stop!

Oh, but the show is not over. Now we notice that the flaps never came
down. Handle is, but indicator shows little/no movement of flaps. We
call one of the other birds to look us over and they confirm that the
flaps are only out a few inches. Really not good. Thinking we have
some mysterious hydraulic problem, now we set up for a short-field
arrest.

After landing the flaps come all the way down. Gear stayed down. After
they pin the gear and we taxi into the line we find the plane captain
can hold the flaps up when selected down. Cool stuff - he feels like
Superman!

A few days later I ran into our Douglass rep (Reese Jones) on the
hangar deck and asked him if they found anything on that bird. The
gear was, as suspected, a bad indicator, but the flaps was another
story. The flap blowback valve (to allow the flaps to blow up if
oversped) had been installed backwards. I told Reese that in systems
school they had told us it could not be installed backwards due to
different fittings at each end.

To which Reese replied: "Adapter fittings are amazing things!" Seems
some sailor could not imagine that he was trying to put it in
backwards and just got some adapter fittings to make it work the way
he wanted to put it in!

Proper engineering can always be overcome by the creative and
resourceful American Sailor!


J W Alger USNR(ret) 1310/1325
TA-4J, A-7E, EC-130Q, P-3B