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My flight from Seattle to Anchorage was delayed for over an hour because of a problem with the emergency door. Finally fixed by a mechanic who came on board carrying a roll of off-white duct tape.

Forget the high tech adhesives in aeroplanes. A little hundred-mile-an-hour tape and you are good to go. Didn't see any bailing wire.

Forget the high tech adhesives in aeroplanes. A little hundred-mile-an-hour tape and you are good to go. Didn't see any bailing wire.

It was covered by a generous amount of bubble gum.

This wasn't an old Ford Tri-Motor by any chance? Did the Captain walk out to the plane wearing a leather flying helmet and a long scarf wrapped around his neck?

R,
Bullseye

The Greeners flight heading down the runway. Actually this one was at the Midland MI airport a few years ago and is the of lift but no flaps. They say the biggest problem was to get them on the ground as they just wanted to fly. That plane is a 1929 and is older than me and dirt. Back in my dirt biking days you always had duct tape, as it was good for bike repairs and also apparel and equipment and people repairs also.

You know you're in for it when the pilot yells, "Contact!" to the ground crew.

R,
Bullseye

greener wrote:My flight from Seattle to Anchorage was delayed for over an hour because of a problem with the emergency door. Finally fixed by a mechanic who came on board carrying a roll of off-white duct tape.

Forget the high tech adhesives in aeroplanes. A little hundred-mile-an-hour tape and you are good to go. Didn't see any bailing wire.

My trip to Anchorage had a very long delay in Seattle. They filled the plane with fuel and disconnected the fuel hose and fuel started running out. It just continued to run and fueller walked away. They try several ways to repair it and finally a mechanic showed up and got the valve to seal. But then their was another problem, they did not know how much fuel was in the plane it leaked so bad, and apparently the fuel gauge was not working. So they pumped all of the fuel out and metered the fuel back in for the trip. My 7:00 arrival was 2:00am. The funny thing is that they pulled away from the terminal so the plane "left on time" even though it was on the tarmac. Nothing like a well maintained plane

Duct tape, WD40 and if you own a Harley like I do a big hammer. That's enough to fix anything on Earth. By the way, real duct tape is silver.

if it sticks and it shouldn't = WD40

if it moves and it shouldn't = duck tape (because duct tape is silver)

Slanteyedshootist wrote:Duct tape, WD40 and if you own a Harley like I do a big hammer. That's enough to fix anything on Earth. By the way, real duct tape is silver.

Yes, and you can bet your buttstock on that!!!!!

I'm a former A&P (airframe and powerplant) or generically, aircraft mechanic. I worked for Beech Aircraft taking care of Beech T-34C Navy trainers in Florida.

Some of the guys I worked with were former airline mechanics, and some of the horror stories they had were amazing. Being told not to change tires that were out of specs because "they have one good landing left in them". Told not to check a sensor because "we've never had one of those go bad, and this plane is late already". You get the picture.

Thank goodness the U.S. Navy didn't go for that B.S.. I know enough about flying, especially commercial, that I won't fly if there is any alternative.

Airplane mechs have a saying, "Flying is the safest thing in the world. Hitting the ground is what hurts".

BTW, the photo is of a 1929 Ford 4-AT Tri-Motor that belongs to the Experimental Aircraft Association. Nice plane. Oldest thing I ever got to work on was a 1938 Douglas DC-3 that was being "zero timed". Every square inch is gone over and the log book goes back to zero hours. The plane actually had over two million flight hours since new. Pretty amazing.

bearandoldman wrote:The Greeners flight heading down the runway. Actually this one was at the Midland MI airport a few years ago and is the of lift but no flaps. They say the biggest problem was to get them on the ground as they just wanted to fly. That plane is a 1929 and is older than me and dirt. Back in my dirt biking days you always had duct tape, as it was good for bike repairs and also apparel and equipment and people repairs also.

They were flying one of these "regularly" in KZ before I left. Youngest went to a birthday party that included a ride on one. The Air Zoo (Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum) has one in flyable condition.

greener wrote:

bearandoldman wrote:The Greeners flight heading down the runway. Actually this one was at the Midland MI airport a few years ago and is the of lift but no flaps. They say the biggest problem was to get them on the ground as they just wanted to fly. That plane is a 1929 and is older than me and dirt. Back in my dirt biking days you always had duct tape, as it was good for bike repairs and also apparel and equipment and people repairs also.

They were flying one of these "regularly" in KZ before I left. Youngest went to a birthday party that included a ride on one. The Air Zoo (Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum) has one in flyable condition.

I do believe they still give rides on the trimotor.... they were advertising flights in a b17 this summer for $425. neat place my kids took greener there over the summer and he seemed to have a great time. http://www.airzoo.org/

That is most likely the one I saw up here at Midlan, not too long a flight to Kzoo. They were giving rides I believe for 50 bucks or so, had I known about that, I would have made a reservation and been at the head of the line. Always wanted to fly in a plane older than me.

bearandoldman wrote:That is most likely the one I saw up here at Midlan, not too long a flight to Kzoo. They were giving rides I believe for 50 bucks or so, had I known about that, I would have made a reservation and been at the head of the line. Always wanted to fly in a plane older than me.

I thought you had a shot at the DC3, but I don't think so. Wow, older than the DC3, that's quite an accomplishment.

bearandoldman wrote:That is most likely the one I saw up here at Midlan, not too long a flight to Kzoo. They were giving rides I believe for 50 bucks or so, had I known about that, I would have made a reservation and been at the head of the line. Always wanted to fly in a plane older than me.

not a whole lot of original spad's or sopwith camels left to take a ride in BAOM...... maybe the Wright Bros flier....

bgreenea3 wrote:

bearandoldman wrote:That is most likely the one I saw up here at Midlan, not too long a flight to Kzoo. They were giving rides I believe for 50 bucks or so, had I known about that, I would have made a reservation and been at the head of the line. Always wanted to fly in a plane older than me.

not a whole lot of original spad's or sopwith camels left to take a ride in BAOM...... maybe the Wright Bros flier....

My choice of that era would be the Neuport, that engine was cool. Propeller was fixed to the engine and the crank was affixed to a bulkhead i=on the fuselage and the engine rotated to cool the cylinder. Damn that must have had a real gyro effect on the plane.