Me at work, doing a walkaround on a B757

[Chock 17,769]

4 minutes ago, jon b said:

I’m not familiar with those but thanks , most grateful  is it like bitcoin, can I buy a new graphics card ?

Just so long as it isn't a Cat A.

[JRBarrett 3,077]

4 hours ago, mazelda said:

But when i read this, i thought who on earth is this, telling people what to look for on a turn round. So perhaps Chock, you can explain to all of us exactly what you are inspecting and why the static ports and pitot tubes for example are checked? Also exactly what you are inspecting with the fan blades and any limitations you find?

I am also a licensed A&P with 40+ years experience, and I certainly cannot agree with your “who does he think he is?” assessment. Insuring the safety and security of an aircraft is the job of everyone who works on the ramp, not just flight crew and rated maintenance engineers. At most airlines (here in the US at least), it is absolutely the responsibility of the lead ramp agent (specifically spelled out in written SOPs) to do a walk around of the aircraft prior to pushback to insure that all doors, hatches and access panels are closed and latched. When the flight crew does their preflight, cargo hatches will still be open, lav and potable water service might be underway, fueling might be in progress etc. By the time these services are complete, the pilots will already be on the flight deck preparing for departure. Main doors and cargo hatches should give a warning light or CAS message if not closed, but that is not the case with many servicing panels.

Things can go wrong (mechanically) between the time the flight crew or AME  completes a preflight and pushback commences. I work in a corporate flight department, not airline, but we have had several instances of problems that were spotted by non-rated line crew after the aircraft was already preflighted by the flight crew and/or AME.

Just recently we had a flight cancel after a member of the line staff spotted a hydraulic leak on the right main gear due to a defective brake line, which only became evident when the electric hydraulic pumps were energized and the parking brake was set just prior to engine start. On another occasion, a member of the line crew spotted FOD (a light weight plastic bag) which had blown into the an engine inlet on a very windy day. This happened at some point after the pilot’s preflight, and after the doors had been closed.

Many aircraft have air data sensors (pitot probes, static probes, AOA vanes etc.) which are very close to the main entrance door, and which could be easily damaged if the jet bridge was slightly out of position when the weather seal was rotated down. The ramp agent is the “last line of defense” to spot any issues in this area after the jet bridge is pulled back and the MED is closed.

[Major_Bloodnok 21]

10 minutes ago, JRBarrett said:

Insuring the safety and security of an aircraft is the job of everyone who works on the ramp, not just flight crew and rated maintenance engineers.

Never a truer word spoken.

 

[Christopher Low 5,354]

As soon as I had read that post by Mazelda, I ordered a large bucket of popcorn, dimmed the lights, and waited excitedly for the suitably detailed response from Chock

Edited November 4, 2021 by Christopher Low

[Chock 17,769]

41 minutes ago, Christopher Low said:

As soon as I had read that post by Mazelda, I ordered a large bucket of popcorn, dimmed the lights, and waited excitedly for the suitably detailed response from Chock

Well, to be honest, engineers do an important job too, so a better response might have been to perhaps show a video of what they may do, as that would be just as interesting for Avsimmers.

My dad actually was an engineer at Faireys in Heaton Norris, where they made aeroplanes and fixed battle damage to various types, including Spitfires and such in WW2. One of my uncles worked there too doing that stuff, and another was a repair engineer in the Merchant Navy, so there's a fair few engineers in my family. Faireys, like many engineering companies and my dad too unfortunately, is long gone sadly, but at Manchester where I work, there is still the Fairey Apron, named for where Faireys had a satellite factory. This apron is near the big Thomas Cook hangar, pretty much directly behind and opposite where that B757 is on stand 23 in the video, so the name at least lives on. It is just where the engine test bay, main control tower and one of the fire stations is located these days.

Back in WW2, Manchester Airport was of course Ringway Airport, named after a nearby village, and in combination with the now defunct Woodford Aerodrome, this was where many aeroplanes were built and finished, including Lancaster bombers. Ringway was also a parachute training school at that time, training amongst other things, OSS secret agent operatives who would be parachuted into occupied France.

I did actually work at Faireys in Heaton Norris years ago for a while, courtesy of my dad getting me a temporary job there when I was on my summer break from college. I was doing stuff on the then-new ski-ramps which were fitted to RN ships for launching Harriers (one of two times I've had to sign the Official Secrets Act for jobs in aviation), and as you can imagine, with a dad who was an aeroplane engineer back when you needed to be really skilled on lathes and such, he taught me a lot of stuff and was helpful when I was making model aeroplanes as a young lad and it's definitely rubbed off on me. Thus I'm well aware of what a technical job it is to be an aeroplane engineer, so it's kind of funny that someone supposes I'm blundering around that 757 with no idea of what the various bits are. I bet that would have given my dad a good laugh. 🤣 ✈️

Edited November 4, 2021 by Chock

[martin-w 3,235]

1 hour ago, jon b said:

I’m not familiar with those but thanks , most grateful  is it like bitcoin ,can I buy a new graphics card ?

 

No, no, no, no... Cats are so special that they are beyond mere money. Amassing many cat points is a sign to all that you are a special being that's worthy of receiving cat points.  

[mwilk 1,106]

14 hours ago, Garys said:

More often than not, ramp guys who go to this extreme on final walk arounds find faults that are already logged, causing unnecessary maintenance delays and cost to the airline. Dents and tires are the biggest call outs. The pilot already did his/her walk around. Why are you trying to do the job of an AME?

I would be interested to hear of a time when you found a serious defect that was missed by the AME/pilot during an international turn once the cargo loading was finished that wasnt caused during servicing.

The airline I retired from had us doing walk arounds while we had line mechanics on duty. My question was, why am I ,a ramper, doing walk arounds when there are people trained to do it just sitting around? Never got an intelligent answer from management.

[Chock 17,769]

2 hours ago, mwilk said:

The airline I retired from had us doing walk arounds while we had line mechanics on duty. My question was, why am I ,a ramper, doing walk arounds when there are people trained to do it just sitting around? Never got an intelligent answer from management.

Arrival walkaround is for the most part so that if damage is found, you can report it before putting vehicles on the aeroplane so you don't get accused of damaging anything, so it kind of makes sense that the ramp people would do it, if for no other reason than to cover their asses, and of course also so anything that is damaged can possibly be fixed sooner rather than later so as not to cause a delay. Similarly, when taking stuff off the aeroplane since you are the last people to really touch it, it puts it on record that you've not broken anything.

As to getting an intelligent answer from management, well that's another story. 🤣

[dmwalker 606]

4 hours ago, martin-w said:

Amassing many cat points is a sign to all that you are a special being that's worthy of receiving cat points.  

So, how many cats equal one attaboy, or is it the other way round?

[martin-w 3,235]

"Attaboy" has zero points allocated to it.

All animals are awesome and we humans should be the custodians of the planet and look after them. Sadly, many humans haven't figured that out yet. 

However, as awesome as dogs are, they haven't yet evolved to the point where prestigious awards can be named after them. Maybe one day when they stop passionately embracing their owners legs and learn to make a proper toilet hole instead of depositing their presents randomly on the surface of the planet.

As anybody who owns a dog and thinks they own a cat (cats actually own humans) will tell you, the hierarchy is cat, human, then dog.