[Anonymous]

[LuganoPirate]

Came across this on Airiners.net

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/general_aviation/read.main/6151396/

I’m just wondering how confident this would make you feel?

I’m not sure I’d be that happy to fly.

[Charles-P]

I flew on a Dassault Falcon last year with the man who designed it, the man who did the first test flight and the chief engineer. It would almost have been worth something going wrong just to see how they would have dealt with it.

[Poshgirl58]

This happened five years ago with a Thomas Cook 757 Menorca-Glasgow. Problem would have taken at least 8 hours to resolve had a ThomsonFly engineer not been on board. He was properly checked out by TC and allowed to do the repair, apparently it took about 35 minutes. Everyone on board very happy!

[MartynSinclair]

Perhaps the headline should have read:

“Off duty mechanic – fixes competitors airplane”..

:)))

[canucklad]

This brings back memories of sitting in a steamy Mombasa terminal building, overlooking the apron at our “broken” aircraft. The pilots peering up the front wheel well with torches, looking perplexed.

Then a bedraggled looking chap, whom I suspected had been procured from the local chop shop went scurrying up the nose gear, akin to a trained monkey retrieving coconuts. Then 2 more local mechanics repeated the performance. Crew & local chaps scratch their head !!

4 hours later……” Well I’m confident, the aircraft is fit to fly” announces the Captain as we taxi to the end of the runway…….

One of the few times I wanted to shout….”Let me off this bus “

[LuganoPirate]

African memories Canucklad. Once flying Nigerian Airways from
Port Harcourt to AMS via Paris, the bus had broken down so we were taken to the 707 in military vehicles! As we approached the plane we had to wait but we could all hear hammers banging on metal. I managed to part the canvas and saw about 10 “mechanics” on the wing hammering at the engine cowling.

Anyway. On a wing and a Prayer, literally, we took off and all was fine till somewhere over Libya when every single light went out. The Captain told us not too worry as the sun would be rising shortly and then they’d be plenty of light! Well we made it and I’m still alive to relate the tale!

[canucklad]

African memories indeed LP…….And I doff my hat to your Nigerian bravery.
In my case it was a Caledonian 757, and although they were faffing about at the nose gear, what spooked me was the fast taxing followed by the braking to test the wing flaps…..apparently retracting by themselves or something like that. …

All my numbskulls were screaming at me….”Wings ??? ,we need the feckin wings to fly”

If the fault occurred after we took off, we would divert to Nairobi where BA have a base. And guess what, when we landed in Athens, the wings were f***, its Wednesday morning, so I’ll say knacked !!

[Author]

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