Michael Dooly's MX Stories
I have had a remarkable career at TBC. I started nailing 727's together, I used to install the landing gear and horizontal stab, slip in the center engine ducts, place huge sections down onto the wings. Lots of fun stuff.
I then went to Boeing Experimental Flight Test. Flight Test was the most fun I ever had because of my colleagues. I know why we did some of the things we did. I saw tests that went right and tests that went wrong. I went into Field Service then until my wife developed breast cancer and died. I became a single parent and in spite of my best efforts My kids are both contributing members of society. That is all you can ask.
I ended up in Spares where I ran BACR688L. I helped bring REDARS online for everyone to use. Developed the Regional Elevator Replacement Program, that I understand is still going on. I determined Warranty, who did and didn't get it because I was an A&P and could sign the 8110 return to service. I really did all these things and wanted to share them. I never missed a chance to volunteer for something new or leading edge. I had the time of my life. A colleague from those days now worked in the Everett Factory (God rest his soul) and he said that he had the same problem I did. No one believed his stories. I have a lot of knowledge I would love to pass on.
757 Na002 came from renton to seattle. It had a problem where when the airplane pressurized the flaps would quit working because it shorted out the wire bundle where it exited the pressure hull. The other thing was that "somehow" avionics had installed a "red label" (not flight worthy) Anti skid box.
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So this airplane comes over the fence like a fighter, nails the numbers, and all the brakes locked up. Through the tires, the brake stacks almost to the axles and stopped before the 3500 foot marker. At that time it was 10K an hour if you blocked the runway. we managed to just get a jack under it so we could tow it into the hanger.
I had a remarkable career and loved every minute of it.
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First Flight Na001
First flights do not go very smooth most times. The day before the first flight, when testing the new water ballast system, we filled the airplane full of water because every connection of the fancy water ballast leaked. We had water pouring out of every drain hole. This was second shift and the suits and ties came out of the woodwork to inspect and whine. That produced no issues. The next morning the airplane took off going north and the Nbr 2 engine had multiple bird strikes just after takeoff. The crew just went over Mercer Island and into Paine Field. There were two write ups, the first was "Multiple birds seen entering number 2 engine" the second was "Foul smell from air conditioning system" So we took our only spare engine and trucked it up to Paine Field for the first engine change. Joe Sutter, who was a right prick, walked on the test airplane and saw our lead electrician and a mechanic playing cards and lost his freaking mind and threatened to fire all of us. Fortunately our supervisor Don Long came to our aid and told Sutter that we did not work for him. Sutter stomped off mad as a wet hen.
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Unscheduled 747 nose gear retraction
We were working a 747 that was supposed to go out on a crew training flight. There it sat with all the engines running. We had a supervisor that was not the sharpest tool in the shed but was convinced that he was God's gift to aviation. The pilots did not like something about the safety release on the gear handle and this paragon of aircraft knowledge decided that he would just pull the gear module real quick. With hydraulics on the nose gear happily folded itself into the well. I had to laugh and after that day he was no longer a supervisor and retired soon after.
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Another incident that occurred at the Military Flight Center at Boeing Field and Tankers. We had been doing some electrical interference test because when we went to internal power all of the oil quantity indicators dropped by 50%. At the same time we also had the boom nozzle removed. The mechanic who took over the run was aware not to run the AR pumps. The AR pumps are high capacity hydraulic pumps. The Airplane was parked tail to the runway. As I drove home on I-5 I look down at the at the airplane only to see about a 100 foot plume of fuel going over the top of the blast fence. I am glad it was not me.