ADI, November 7, 1970
We're
at
Tan
Son
Nhut
waiting
for our broken airplane to get fixed--one
generator, one
fuel valve, and the pilot's ADI (Attitude Director Indicator--it's the
pilot's
main instrument to tell whether you're in a bank or climb or
level.)
This airplane (62 1834) is enjoyable to fly,
but a dog on maintenance. After our first sortie from Tan Son
Nhut to Cam Ranh Bay, we already had 15 maintenance writeups.
We ended the day with 28 writeups on that airplane. And it came
from CCK yesterday! It's sad when they send in a bird that's this
broken.
Prop Flux, May 12, 1971
Another
long night and day starting just
before midnight. A
13-hour
day with 7 sorties from
Tan Son Nhut to Cam
Ranh Bay, Tuy Hoa, Chu Lai,
Pleiku, Tan Son Nhut, Binh Thuy, and back to Tan Son Nhut.
Things
went
pretty
smoothly
til
we
got
back
to
TSN
the
first
time.
About
50
miles
out
of
TSN
we
had
a
1%
prop
speed
fluctuation
on our #3, so when we landed
at TSN we got a prop man and ran it up some. "Unable to duplicate
malfunction." Sigh.
3-Engine Buddy Start, May 30, 1971
Today
we
had
the
VX
mission--our
bit
for
Vietnamization.
At
TSN
things
went
very
well
at
the
VNAF
ramp.
In
fact
the
best
I've
ever
seen
loading go there. We headed to Ban Me Thuot--first time I'd been
there since my in-country checkout. On to Pleiku and Nha Trang.
On the ground at
Nha Trang we picked up an increasing fluctuation in gearbox oil
pressure so we decided to check the magnetic oil drain plug for metal
particles. Sure enough there were
some--indicating that something inside is grinding somewhere.
That's grounds (grinds?) for an engine change.
Meanwhile another crew
there had a bad starter control valve so they needed a buddy
start.
We taxied onto the runway to give them that
buddy
start. With our
three good engines at max power, #3 prop decoupled from its engine and
the
nacelle overheated.
Very
bad. We shut #3 down immediately
and taxied that
two-engined beast into a revetment. If a prop decouples and runs
away in
flight it can
leave the
airplane.
Oil Pressure, June 3, 1971
At
TSN we onloaded 65 pax and taxied out. As we ran up the engines
we found an oil pressure fluctuation in the #3 engine. So we
taxied back in to get it looked at. Turned out to be the
transmitter for the gauge rather than an actual pressure fluctuation,
but it still took about an hour to change the transmitter. Some
of the pax were either scared off or lost interest--when we blocked
out a second time we only had 58!
On to Cam Ranh Bay. After takeoff we asked for
two volunteers and those guys got to sit up front. The engineer
let one guy sit in his seat and listen on the headset. Later the guy
told the nav that this was the best thing that had ever happened
to him. Apparently not many good things have ever happened to
him.
