"Keep a Journal: How else are you going to get a good look at who you were?"

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Well, it doesn't run...

...yet.

I think I set the static timing wrong. I may have over-finessed the position of the distributor rotor...or maybe it just needs a new rotor and cap. I'll pull it and check it over tomorrow. I also tried to hook up the new battery the wrong way around and almost fried something...

Today has not been a terrific day.

We're hip deep in stock transfers. We're also short staffed. I was switching between a short reach and a high reach to both pick and load the transferred stock. I was using a high reach to shove a skid off a loading ramp and into a trailer...

...when I rolled down the loading ramp and hit the bottom of the overhead door with the reach mast.

Nuts.

Now, this is only about the sixth or seventh time a loading door has been hit this way. We all know that the high reach machines are never, ever supposed to be anywhere near a loading ramp...

Disregard the rules and correct procedures at your peril...and it will bite you on the ass.

Especially if you are honest enough to 'fess up afterward.

SO:

"By the Book Brian" is not going to be bringing high reaches anywhere near the loading ramps.

Plus, I have to re-take the OPAL course on Machine Operator Safety. Last time this happened they made me re-certify.

It took MONTHS. I am not kidding. I was taken off the machine on or about November 15, 2007 for a "rack bump" that may or may not have actually occurred. But as I am an honest soul, I reported it anyway and even though there was no evidence at all...I still admitted that I had not been "following procedure" to Carlos. I finally got re-instated January 19, 2008...once the planets were aligned and the moon was in the fifth house of Aquarius. I do try to be on good terms with people; especially people I work with...but I didn't like Carlos. I really didn't like the way the whole thing was handled, either.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

A short addenda on the continuing saga of the Great Caravan Adventure.

The days are getting shorter, with sunset coming about 7:30PM or so. I get home between 4:30 and 5PM, and I usually am very hungry from the ride home plus the full 8 hour shift at work...

So I'll eat...and then unwind for an hour or so. Then go out and work on the van about 6PM.

This doesn't leave me a whole lot of time.

The quick and dirty gasket replacement on the '94 was just that. I am now thinking I was lucky that engine started at all, let alone that it ran for six weeks. I simply unbolted the major components, swapped the head gasket, then bolted everything back together without checking for wear or breakage on anything.

I'm being much more thorough this time.

I finally got the manifold on, using the *TFAR method as opposed to trying to use my cheapo torque wrench to get the bolts tightened properly. I stripped one stud out of each head on the manifold side and one of them broke trying to get the jammed nut loose!

Fortunately, I have a pile of spare parts from another (identical) engine. In going over the intake plenum, I discovered the Idle Air Control valve needed replacing. I've already replaced the vacuum fitting that was the primary cause of the '94 van running so roughly. I'll be finished by the end of this week; I know I've said that before, but this time I MEAN it!!!

Things still to do:

Refit the alternator, thermostat, and distributor. Set up the static ignition timing. Re-connect the wiring for the alternator and distributor. Check the plugs and wires. Re-fill the engine with coolant, oil, and check the power steering fluid. Install the intake plenum and throttle, throttle linkage, and EGR bypass pipe.

After all that (some of which will take only a few minutes), I have to "roll" the engine over about 50 times to make sure the various fluids get to where they're supposed to go. Then I can finally re-connect the ignition and start the engine. Once the engine is running, I can put the RH front tire and fender shields back on. I'll still need to replace that door seal, and dress up the scratches on the paint, but it will finally be DONE.

I can hardly wait...

Monday, September 07, 2009

More on the Van;

The parts of the engine that require laying on the ground underneath the van are all done...almost. I'm still going to remove the oil filter (I was going to replace it anyways) so I can re-route the alternator wiring around the filter housing. Right now, it's stuck between the filter and the starter.

I need to replace a couple of the wheel covers on the passenger side.

The weatherstrip seal around the sliding door has a hole poked in it, fortunately the same seal on the '94 is intact; so I'll be replacing it.

I'll need a Simoniz (tm) Fix-it paint scratch repair pen. Some antisocial...individual...has repeatedly keyed the passenger side of the van. Not too bad, but bad enough to be annoying. All these minor fix ups so I can get as much ca$h as possible for the van when I sell it, which will hopefully be sometime REAL soon.
Another Air Show Season is almost over...so let's talk about the Snowbirds.

Nobody died this season, did they?

The last accidental death among the members of 431 demonstration squadron was on or about Thursday, October 9th (?) 2008, during a training flight at the squadron's headquarters in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. The incident previous to that was May 18th, 2007 near Great Falls, Montana. Or rather, those are the most recent ones I could find...this year's season isn't over yet. As one website dedicated to the "Snowbirds Aircraft Replacement Project" (S.A.R.P.)1 stated; "the Snowbirds team becomes a political issue whenever pilots are killed". The Canadair CL-41 Tutor is a two seat 1960's-era trainer that at nearly 50 years old; is well past its intended service life.2

So why are we still using them?

Simple: we own them.

The current jet trainer in use by the CAF is the BAE Systems CT-155 Hawk.3 The Hawk would, in fact, make an ideal replacement for the Tutor...except for one problem: we don't own any, we lease them all from the British.

A number of options have been proposed by the Government and Military leaders who are currently sitting on this situation:

1. Keep using the CL-41 Tutors and accept that pilots are going to die while flying them. Accept also that these "regrettable incidents" are going to occur more frequently. Apologize profusely to the pilot's families and friends and whatever media flacks happen to show outrage over the latest lost pilot. Continue making noises about finding a solution to the "problem" and then go back to sitting on it when the media coverage moves on to something more interesting.

2. Use some other aircraft from the current CAF inventory. We do own, for example, a number of CF-116 Freedom Fighters...better known as the CF-5. A canadian variant of the USAF F-5 light supersonic fighter, the CF-5's were retired from CAF service in 1995. The remaining airframes still in Canada are currently stored at CFB Mountainview. CFB Mountainview is located south of Belleville Ontairio, near CFB Trenton. I don't know what it would cost to get these planes put back together and flying, but there is at least one other aerobatic team using them currently; the Patrouille Suisse. 4

3. Buy some more modern aircraft. The BAE Hawk, for instance, which our maintenance crews and supply depots are already set up to support; has been around for awhile. Earlier versions of the Hawk are available for purchase as surplus. For example: Venga Aerospace (a could-have-been contender from the 1980's) entered into a partnership with ALINC engineering to lease 20 Hawk mk 66 aircraft which were being phased out of the Swiss Air Force inventory. These earlier version surplus Hawks would have been cheaper to lease (or buy) than trying to buy (from the British) any of the present CT-155's currently operating. Most of the current operating fleet were due for upgrade or replacement as of last year...would it be too expensive to keep 20 or so of the older models as a basis for a new Snowbirds squadron? Would buying surplus Hawks be more economical? Better question: would operating Hawks be less expensive in terms of fuel, parts, and Pilots?

One final note:

The Indian Air Force demonstration team faced a similar problem. 5 For about the last 15 years, the Surya Kiran team (Sun Rays) has been flying the HJT-16 trainer. This is a two seat, 1960's-era trainer that is at this point about 45 years old. Sound familiar? The HJT-16's were manufactured in India by Hindustani Aeronautics Limited. Got that? The Indians manufacture their own aircraft. Of course, having hostile neighbors does tend to loosen the purse strings when it comes to military spending.

The HJT-16 "Kiran"6 looks a lot like a Tutor...flies a lot like one too.

To replace them, HAL developed the HJT-36 "Sitara"7. The Sitara looks a lot like a BAE Hawk

...and probably flies a lot like one, too.

I wonder if they're going to sell them for export?

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Still not done the van engine...

Sorry I didn't get that update done; I spent the day in bed instead.

It's not that I can't figure out each piece and subsystem of the engine.

It's that I keep forgetting (as usual) in which order to install the parts!

Tonight I put the lift bracket on the outboard exhaust manifold. I forgot it when putting the manifolds back on the heads. Then I torqued up the cam sprockets and it wasn't until I finished that I realized that I couldn't fix the timing on the sprockets because the brackets that have the timing marks on them - which get installed behind the sprockets!!! - hadn't been installed yet.

Yikes.

It's been a Not So Good Day. We were short staffed at work too.

I can hardly wait 'till this week is over. The seasonal rains will be kicking in about...tomorrow, I think. Arrgh. I hate riding in the rain. However, until I fix up a working set of wheels; I really have no option, do I?