Monday, October 3, 2022

An Expensive Part

 








9 comments:

  1. Quite the wardrobe, hi-vis safety vest over camo.

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    1. easily removed.
      use to be required to wear a white tees under fatigues. excellent aiming point for a heart shot. Never did like getting sniped at when working on an aircraft in the open. after a number of years, the color palette for tees got changed up.
      In a tremendous make work program back in the mid 1970s, the USAF repainted all bright yellow aircraft ground support equipment to blend in with the US Army equipment to a dark OD green to make it less conspicuous to observers. I suppose you could say the USAF wanted us to be more 'tactical' appearing. Then began a number of extremely expensive ground accidents on the ramps because the equipment blended into the darkness at night and became dangerous for aircraft and vehicles to move around. so, they had reflective tapes plastered all over the equipment and everything that moved under it's own power had to have a flashing yellow beacon. and then, we had to sew reflective tape on the uniforms we wore on the ramp and carry flashlights at night which we removed when in any kind of combat area. can you pronounce the words 'military intelligence'?

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  2. Would not want the responsibility of an aircraft mechanic. Too many lives at risk.

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  3. For the record, that is not a US Air Force C-130J nor a USAF mechanic, it’s a RAF bird. The RAF is retiring their C-130s soon, so if you’re in the market for a late model used airlifter you might contact them.

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  4. Dowty 6 blade prop mated to a Rolls Royce A2100 engine on the C-130J. They had a serious fire at the Dowty plant in the UK a few years ago that temporarily shut down production but I think they have recovered at this point.

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    1. I’ve been to the plant, though not recently. They did recover from the fire and are back at full production.

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  5. I flew C130E's and H's back in the mid-80's. A novice might think that a propeller is simply attached to the front end of the engine, but the propeller system on a C130 is completely separate from the engine. A C130 engine runs at 3 different speeds....Off, 100%, and "Low Speed Ground Idle", which tricks the engine into believing it's at 100%, but it really is turning at 65% (IIRC). The propeller system changes the pitch of the blades to convert the engine's power into torque. When a C130 pilot pushes up the power, what he's really doing is changing the pitch of the props. It is possible to have the prop "windmill" the engine, but this can induce problems so a "Negative Torque System" is added to prevent this. The C130 engines of my day could, and would, leak oil all day. However, an oil leak coming from the prop was a serious problem....a prop leak could lead to an uncontrolled prop, which might bring down a plane.

    BTW, I agree that these pictures are probably of British C130s. The tell is the refueling probe sticking forward on the left side of the plane. US C130s don't have that.

    azlibertarian

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    1. The newer props are designed to be fail safe. If the prop makes an uncommanded pitch change the actuator piston will close off the ports in the valve sleeve trapping the oil so the mechanism is now hydraulically locked. The pilot now has a fixed pitch prop for the rest of the flight. If the prop needs to be feathered there is a separate electric pump with it's own reservoir of oil so even if the engine runs dry the prop can be feathered.
      Another feature of the HamStan and Dowty props is they are modular, the blades are all made to within grams of the same weight. Slide the sock over the bad blade, turn the prop so it is on top and connect it to the crane, remove the cuff clamp, the seal and the bearing race and the blade comes out freely.
      By the way in the second pic Royal Air Force is painted below the Rosemount probe.
      Al_in_Ottawa

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  6. I was in the USAF 5th Combat Comm Group so I was only a passenger on C130s and C141s. I got to drive deuce and a halfs.

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