That has been said around here for a while, I can't see how its true with the need for pilots and the amount of people being shoved into 64s....who knows.

Looks like the union-workers are on overtime at the Old Rumor Mill, then.

I say....whatever. Do the best one can and reap the fruits of one's labor. Better than picking through the scraps and being disappointed.

Future35series,
The way it works I believe is that for aviation jobs, its a minimum 6 year enlistment right now, but as far as putting in a warrant packet, you can do so at anytime, and if they pick you up with lets say 4 years left in your 6 year commitment, they either may add that on to what your commitment will be as a warrent or you are just released from your enlistment on the condition that you are a warrant officer (with the min. 6 year flying commitment).

For example, right now im in AIT for 15U, the second I get to my first unit/while im in AIT im going to put together a warrent officer packet and submit it. Depending on how long it takes to get accepted, I could only serve as a 15U for 6-8 months maybe. Which would have me get a warrant commission, which I believe calls for a conditional release from your enlistment, being the condition is that you become a warrant officer.

quote:

Originally posted by TravisOlsen:
Future35series,
The way it works I believe is that for aviation jobs, its a minimum 6 year enlistment right now, but as far as putting in a warrant packet, you can do so at anytime, and if they pick you up with lets say 4 years left in your 6 year commitment, they either may add that on to what your commitment will be as a warrent or you are just released from your enlistment on the condition that you are a warrant officer (with the min. 6 year flying commitment).

For example, right now im in AIT for 15U, the second I get to my first unit/while im in AIT im going to put together a warrent officer packet and submit it. Depending on how long it takes to get accepted, I could only serve as a 15U for 6-8 months maybe. Which would have me get a warrant commission, which I believe calls for a conditional release from your enlistment, being the condition is that you become a warrant officer.

Being a pilot would be awesome... but unfortunately, my eyes will indefinitely be profiled at "2" - no go for flying.

my eyesight isnt the best either, but you do know that there are a few laser eye surgeries that are approved such as LASEK and LASIK. So keep that in mind, it may not be holding you back like you think.

quote:

Originally posted by trafficmp:
I thought that the 64's weren't taking anyone without at least an 85 academic average as well.

As a matter of fact, when we got our briefing at the start of Aeromed we were told that. More specifically, the attempt would be made to steer you away from that airframe. NG/USAR included. The rationale was that if you can't maintain an 85% average in Primary, then when you get to your -64 you'll have even more trouble because of the complexity of the systems. While they may be desperate for -64 drivers, they don't want to send someone through that, in their eyes, has a low probability of success.

Matt, do you (or does anyone, for that matter) have any Chinook stories you could share? I don't hear/read about them very often and I'm sure there are funny or educational incidents out there that we could all benefit from.

quote:

Originally posted by Nstasi:
Matt, do you (or does anyone, for that matter) have any Chinook stories you could share? I don't hear/read about them very often and I'm sure there are funny or educational incidents out there that we could all benefit from.

When I was in AIT at Ft. Eustis, in another class, there were a couple of minor injuries to a couple female soldiers. They were removing the Main AC Generator from the aft transmission assembly. Apparently they either didn't have the upper body strength to support the generator, or weren't prepared for the weight. They took the generator off the mounting bolts and promptly dropped the generator on their heads, producing minor lacerations and bruises. This happened twice to two separate females in the same class. After these incidents, a new rule was instituted that required two people to remove the Main AC Generators.

More recently, we were servicing the forward alighting gear struts during a 400 hour phase inspection. The guy loosening the fluid servicing point failed to depressurize the strut beforehand. Well as soon as the nut was loosened, the entire area got covered in hydraulic fluid. BIG mess!

Matt
SPC, US Army
15U

Boeing CH-47F Chinook Fielded by US Army's 4th Infantry Division

(Source: Boeing Co.; issued April 7, 2008)

ST. LOUIS --- The Boeing Company's CH-47F Chinook helicopter has been fielded by Bravo Company, 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, based at Fort Hood, Texas. This is the second U.S. Army unit to field the CH-47F since the aircraft was certified combat-ready in July 2007.

"This aircraft is light-years ahead in flight-management systems compared with our older aircraft," said Col. Patrick Tierney, commander, Combat Aviation Brigade. "The F-model Chinook has the same systems as the latest civilian aircraft."

Lt. Col. Dave Fleckenstein, commander, 2nd Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment, Combat Aviation Brigade, Huntington, W.V. -- who pilots one of the new Chinooks -- noted that the aircraft's radar altitude hold "keeps the aircraft a set number of feet off the ground and negates making multiple passes to land. Also, the all-digital cockpit gives us five displays, with each capable of showing several different pages of flight plans, alternate routes and data from different sources processed by the central processing unit."

Since the Chinook's combat-ready certification by the U.S. Army, units have completed in excess of 1,000 flight hours, performing a wide range of training exercises under night-vision goggles simulating air assault, combat re-supply and transport operations. The CH-47F has successfully completed all evaluations, including airworthiness, functional testing and operational testing.

"There is a great deal of enthusiasm for the CH-47F from pilots and crews in the field," said Jack Dougherty, vice president, Boeing H-47 Programs. "This advanced aircraft provides greater capability to meet our military forces' growing range of mission demands."

Built at Boeing's Rotorcraft Systems facility in Ridley Township, Pa., the CH-47F helicopter features a newly designed, modernized airframe, a Rockwell Collins Common Avionics Architecture System (CAAS) cockpit and a BAE Digital Advanced Flight Control System (DAFCS).

CAAS greatly improves aircrew situational awareness, and DAFCS provides dramatically improved flight control capabilities through features such as "hover hold," "altitude hold" and "beep down" that improve performance and safety in brownout situations, as well as the entire flight envelope.

Advanced avionics also incorporate improved situational awareness for flight crews with an advanced digital map display and a data transfer system that allows storing of preflight and mission data. Improved survivability features include Common Missile Warning and Improved Countermeasure Dispenser Systems. The entire suite of improved cockpit capabilities will apply to other H-47 models.

Powered by two 4,733-horsepower Honeywell engines, the new CH-47F can reach speeds greater than 175 mph and transport more than 21,000 pounds. The CH-47F, with the Robertson Aviation Extended Range Fuel System, has a mission radius of more than 400 nautical miles.

I guess that's low pressure in the struts then. I've seen a video from Shell Oil intended for fire suppression folks regarding the hazards of high pressure hydraulic fluid from the pierced lines of hydraulic tools acting as a knife. Ugly. How often do those types of incidents you cited occur?

quote:

Originally posted by Nstasi:
Matt, do you (or does anyone, for that matter) have any Chinook stories you could share? I don't hear/read about them very often and I'm sure there are funny or educational incidents out there that we could all benefit from.

So there we were...

I was in the middle of a KFOR rotation about 7 years ago as a Flight Engineer with a "major" Air Assault Division. We had the mission of moving some people from a small base in kosovo, to the Airport so they could catch their flight out. Since we would be on the ground for a while waiting for the passengers, we went ahead and shut down. It was a nice easy day, just my Crew Chief and me, and the pilots hanging out in the bird. Then the call came to get her cranked, as the pax were arriving early. Well since the pax were press corps, and some political delegates and such, we wanted to be ready to go. Into our gear we jumped and flew through the checklist and got the big bird cranked. the pax arrived, and I loaded them up after a quick safety brief. Now I will point out that I was running the ramp, and my Crew Chief was running the front cabin door. With the aircraft running, and everything looking good, I climbed in and put the ramp up. "Clear left, right and above". Off we go. After our climbout, I came inside the cabin and began my ramp and cabin check. Left ramp area looked fine. Aft transmission area? Fine. maintenance panel. Fine. Cabin ceiling? Fine. Taking one last look out the back, I saw something fluttering in the breeze right outside the ramp. WTF is that, I wonder? I walk over there to look, and see a flutter of red again. What the hell is that? So, I lower the ramp, and crawl out on the stubby wing. There it is: I had left the flare dispenser safety pin installed. What a dumbass I am! So after chasing the "Remove Before Flight" streamer for about a minute and a half, to the enjoyment of the pax, I finally grabbed it and yanked the safety pin out of the module. "What an idiot" I'm thinking to myself! Oh well, if that's the worst part of my day...Anyway, we land uneventfully at the airport, and drop our pax off, pull pitch and head back to our base in Macedonia. After about 10 minutes of flight, and nearing the Kosovo/Macedonia border, I get up and begin another Ramp and Cabin Check...Once again everything's looking good. So, I start cleaning up the cabin real quick, and notice that the wheel chocks are not in the cabin where we usually stow them. Aww damn it! "Hey Mario, do you have the chocks up there?" I watch intently while he looks and comes up empty handed. "Nope." Crap...I know exactly where they are. Now the wheels in my head are turning. Can I get my hands on any wood back at base and make new ones? Nope. Are there any I can steal? Nope. Well hell, this isn't getting any better. If I don't have any can I get by? Well, dummy, you are a senior FE, and how would it look if your bird's parking brake were to let go, and it rolled off the pad and were heavily damaged? The dialogue went like this:

Me: "uhhh, hey sir?"
PC: "yeah man, what's up?"
Me: "How far are we from the airport we just left?"
PC: "About 15 min. Why?"
Me: (feeling like the world's biggest dumbass)"well, I think I left the chocks back there..."
PC: "Do you need them?"
Me: "Yeah, I think we do...I mean if I had the stuff, I could make new ones, but we don't have anything back at the camp."
PC: Roger, clear left..."
Me: (sheepishly) "Clear left..."

Mario's up front laughing.

They spotted the chocks on short final...

Moral of the story? Call and response is just that. When it's called for, do it, then say it, and make sure you use the checklist!

Thanks for sharing, MH. I used to spend a lot of time reading anecdotes and reports about things like that and while there was no loss of life in what you described, the take home point, in concert with your moral, is that IT COULD HAPPEN TO ANYONE. I don't really read the CRC's new publication because there is a lot of stuff there that is not particularly useful to me. A few weeks ago I hijacked some copies of the Navy's Approach magazine and learned an awful lot of stuff (most of which will never apply to me, but will be standing by in my head if I ever find myself in an F18). I may not be able to use the information in those magazines directly, but it still drives home the point. Also, not that I've ever been in an aviation unit, I imagine that those scenarios have a lot of training value if the crew applied themselves to extract it.

P.S. What's worse than forgetting -47 chocks is forgetting chocks for the fire engine and having your EMS "buddies" let you know by broadcasting that all over the dispatch freq.

Boeing Shuts Down Chinook Line

May 14, 2008
Associated Press

Army criminal investigators are looking into problems found in two military helicopters on a production line at a Boeing Co. plant in suburban Philadelphia, prompting the company to shut down the line.

A Boeing spokesman said Wednesday that aircraft at the plant were being inspected. The company didn't disclose specifics about why it shut down the H-47 Chinook line at Boeing Rotorcraft Systems plant in Ridley Township, Pa., on Tuesday. Employees reported to work Wednesday morning, but the line had yet to fully resume operations.

U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, a Democrat whose district includes the plant, said he was told during a briefing that wires that appeared to be broken or severed were found in one helicopter and a suspicious washer was found in a second.

Sestak said the assessment was preliminary and he expected the findings of a more thorough review would be available later Wednesday. He praised Boeing's handling of the situation, and said it was too early to speculate on what happened.

Dave Foster, an Army spokesman, said in an e-mail that normal production was expected to resume shortly.

"At present, this is thought to be an isolated incident, confined to these two aircraft," Foster said.

Foster said the Defense Contract Management Agency was overseeing the situation.

All aircraft on the premises were being inspected, said Jack Satterfield, a company spokesman. But he said the shutdown was isolated to one line at the plant and did not affect helicopters already in use by the military.

The Defense Criminal Investigative Service had agents on the premises conducting interviews, said Gary Comerford, a spokesman for the agency. Army Criminal Investigation Command spokesman Christopher Grey confirmed the agency was also involved in the investigation, but said he could not comment on it.

The Chinook is known as the Army's workhorse aircraft. It is used to transport troops and supplies.

Boeing is currently producing new Chinooks for the Army, as well as updating older models.

quote:

wires that appeared to be broken or severed were found in one helicopter and a suspicious washer was found in a second.

What wires? In which system? A "suspicious washer?" WTF does that mean? I never knew washers could be "suspicious"... The wrong size, thickness, type, etc., but never suspicious.

While these issues are concerning for the main production facility, the article really doesn't give too much information about the nature of the "anomalies." I guess I'll have to keep an eye out for any new maintenance ADs from Boeing regarding wiring and suspicious washers...

Matt
SPC, US Army
15U

Lame....my stock in BA just dropped another half point for this bad juju. Tools.

On a lighter and much more happy note, I got the notification from NGB this afternoon congratulating me on my airframe assignment to CH-47D's. The possibility of being put in -60's as I was told from back home is no longer there. THANK GOD! At least I will only have to cram into one model of helicopter during my time here, then I get to drive the bus...sweet. I live like 5 minutes from Knox AHP. Matt, since we are the only -47 guys on here, I may be asking you some system questions.

No problem, sir!

If I don't know the answer off the top of my head, I've got 2 CDs full of CH-47D TMs, so I can find you the answer pretty quickly.

Matt
SPC, US Army
15U

Oh yeah??? You think you could make me a zipped down copy of those and e-mail them?? That would be swell.
Thanks!

Boeing Resumes Chinook Operations in Philadelphia

(Source: Boeing Co.; issued May 15, 2008)

ST. LOUIS --- The Boeing Company's Rotorcraft Systems division in Philadelphia today resumed operations on the H-47 Chinook helicopter production line.

All employees are reporting to work on their regularly assigned shifts.

Boeing will continue to cooperate with the Defense Contract Management Agency to close this incident. Boeing Rotorcraft Systems employees have worked to resolve the issues as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Boeing remains committed to delivering products that meet or exceed stringent quality standards and operational requirements to the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces and its allies.


(EDITOR’S NOTE: The CH-47F assembly line was shut down on May 13 after defects, subsequently found to be voluntary, were found on two CH-47Fs. Criminal investigators from the Pentagon on May 15 offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of those responsible, local media reported.

-ends-


Boeing’s CH-47F assembly line was shut down for 48 hours after minor damage was found on two helicopters. The incident is being investigated as suspected sabotage. (Boeing photo)

That picture is of one of the new "F" Models. Note the funky engine screens. Interesting.

trafficmp: If I had a good zipping program, I would gladly do that for ya. Perhaps someone on here can help with a (free) zipping program?

Matt
SPC, US Army
15U

Isn't WINZIP free anymore?