What Is This????

[BenderGonzales]

yeah! I am offended! Bender Bending Unit Gonzales wipes struts for no meatbag!

Seriously though if you use brakes as INTENDED i/e use reverse thrust until you're slowing through say 70 or 80 knots and then lightly apply braking -- do NOT try to make the first taxiway -- then the darned things dont get that dirty anyway!!

Flybet, I feel your pain. I have to go get a mole on my stomach excised today. ACK! Gives me the willies just thinking about it. Getting old sucks

 

[Flybet3]

yeah! I am offended! Bender Bending Unit Gonzales wipes struts for no meatbag!

Seriously though if you use brakes as INTENDED i/e use reverse thrust until you're slowing through say 70 or 80 knots and then lightly apply braking -- do NOT try to make the first taxiway -- then the darned things dont get that dirty anyway!!

Flybet, I feel your pain. I have to go get a mole on my stomach excised today. ACK! Gives me the willies just thinking about it. Getting old sucks

Well like a wise man once said....

" I'm older, that means I am one day closer to death" Al Bundy.

 

[h25b]

I have to go get a mole on my stomach excised today. ACK! Gives me the willies just thinking about it. Getting old sucks

I had the same thing done about a year ago... It's no big deal. They will just numb the area with a small shot, pinch up the skin and slice it away. Then they just put some neosporin on it with a bandaid. Like wiping the struts, takes about 5 minutes and is painless.

The worst part is if you have a hairy stomach like me and they have to shave the area. You'll itch for a week. Also the biggest reason I hate gettin an EKG.

 

[BenderGonzales]

That doesn't make me feel even a LITTLE bit better! lol

 

[Amish RakeFight]

I don't think I wold be beneath such a chore if it took only a few minutes and I was treated well by the company and actually cared about the operation I worked for. Not a big deal.

 

[h25b]

That doesn't make me feel even a LITTLE bit better! lol

I didn't think it would...

Good luck, it really is no problem.. The worst part is seeing them place a portion of your flesh in to a plastic jar to send of for analysis.

 

[BenderGonzales]

I'm gonna cry like a little girl.

 

[Sim Sweat]

Some of the replies in this thread are pretty amazing, but then, some of them are intended that way too.

I wipe the struts. Not after every flight, but when I'm away from home, and they need it. I'll wipe the seats too, or anything else that tends to make the airplane look the way it should. Nobody's telling me to do that - I like what I'm doing, I'm flying nice equipment, and there's no good reason why I shouldn't. And I don't tell anybody else to do it. It doesn't soil my clothes or make me any less of a professional either.

Geez.

 

[h25b]

This thread has definately been enlightening. I guess just a little bit of extra effort is somehow out of the question these days. I can only hope that when/if I rise to the ranks of the heavy international jet operators I can rise above these trivial tasks.

Somehow though I suspect that I'll be under a G-V with my shop gloves and hydraulic fluid soaked paper towel scrubbing off the struts one day. Doing a little extra with attention to detail has never hurt anyone and unlike a lot of others I just look at as part of the job. This, "it's not my job" mentality is what I hated most about flying with the airlines. Some of you guys sound like union labor. Pitch in and get the job done. If wiping the struts saves just $1000/yr. it's worth it.

 

[Blackjet]

Doing a little extra with attention to detail has never hurt anyone and unlike a lot of others I just look at as part of the job. This, "it's not my job" mentality is what I hated most about flying with the airlines. Some of you guys sound like union labor. Pitch in and get the job done. If wiping the struts saves just $1000/yr. it's worth it.

If these guys are not getting credit for it (someone important does not know what "extra" work is being done to help save MX and $), they don't do it. The only one's I think are excused from this are the FRAC guys, as those planes get so used and abused, andything extra they do, the next crew will undo all their work.

H25B, your post is excellent and right on. Where is 2000flyer in all of this? He usually has a intellignet and professional POV.

 

[BenderGonzales]

He does? Have you ever actually READ any of his stuff? The guy can't sit down at his computer without offending a dozen people!

 

[HMR]

Seriously though if you use brakes as INTENDED i/e use reverse thrust until you're slowing through say 70 or 80 knots and then lightly apply braking -- do NOT try to make the first taxiway -- then the darned things dont get that dirty anyway!!

What airplane do you fly? Do you ever use runways less than 8,000'?

 

[HawkerF/O]

Seriously though if you use brakes as INTENDED i/e use reverse thrust until you're slowing through say 70 or 80 knots and then lightly apply braking -- do NOT try to make the first taxiway -- then the darned things dont get that dirty anyway!!

Be careful with that kind of talk Bender. G200 and lots of others will inform you of how big of a loser and hack pilot you are for using the brakes as you have just described, ie the proper way. According to them, you are supposed to SLAM the brakes at the 1st sign of spin-up, not giving a $hit about the pax and their comfort, and make the 1st taxi way. Every time all the time. Use only that technique, and if you even think about trying to go easy on the equipment and help save a few bucks, you are even a bigger loser, as you are supposed to be concentrating on the airplane behind you and what they are going to be thinking if you don't get off the runway less than 10 seconds after you make contact with it. Remember, you ar enot suppose to be concerned about what is going on in your aircraft, you are supposed to be concerned about airplane behind you and thier safety. Shame on you Bender for thinking that using the T/Rs instead of the brakes is the proper way to do things. You are supposed to get all over the brakes ASAP and heat them up, so when you actually need them, they fade and the pedals go to the aft stops while you go off the end of the runway and apoligise to the crews behind you for not being professional. Do all that, then call for the EMER Evac.

 

[HMR]

Just curious...

How many of you guys work for good PT91 companies? I'm surrounded by "dream job" operators and work for one myself. Every pilot I can think of was hired, in part, for their personality and team player attitude. No "Not My Job" types around here. Of course we straighten up the interior and make sure the galley is properly stocked before a flight. It's on the checklist just like verifying the fuel load. However, I can't say that I've ever seen another pilot at one of our local corp ops wiping down struts with gloves and hydro fluid or polishing bright work. I'll admit, though, I do occasionally see one guy polishing the rims on his SL500.

 

[HMR]

Be careful with that kind of talk Bender. G200 and lots of others will inform you of how big of a loser and hack pilot you are for using the brakes as you have just described, ie the proper way..

Hmmm... Our ref speeds range from 115-130kts and we land on our 4800' RWY without the slightest discomfort to our pax. Should we try slowing to 70-80kts using T/R's only before applying brakes, as you recommend? There are 30+ jet operators at our airport that would love to watch you demonstrate.