Forum: F-16 Design & Construction

ViperEnforcer wrote:

TimmayMan wrote:

yep I've play the inlet strut game too and they aren't easy. It seemed like the top bolt in the avionics bay went on and on forever. 8 hours is good time at least compared to when I did one in about 10-11ish hours. Canning it didn't make it any better on top of the fact that the lil dayshifter that kept finding them bad on the ramp didn't even do any of them.

Canned an inlet heater strut? Who approved that asinine can??? Here I thought canning an EPU was BS, LOL…

It's more than a 10 hour job, as the recovery alone can take a day or two, pending the inlet coating and paint cue times. Also, did your unit already have that special spline tool when you did it, or had to have it fabricated? Just about every 16 base I was at did not have one; that is not until they had a inlet strut change.

Those struts can easily be shot down though, as no dents or cracks are allowed.

Mike Valdez; USAF Retired

The same supers that had us canning crap like brakes, accumulator gauges and tires, . The final straw was when they tried to get us to can packing retainers on the pressure filter manifolds. That one got one of them fired finally. After that they calmed down. Actually we had the splined socket on hand. The one thing I do miss about that unit is they had awesome CTKs and special tools.

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Two worst - LEF actuators and the other was an order that came down to replace some kind of lock keys/locak washers where the throttle cabel attaches to the linkage in the cockpit. I ahd a B model and had a freakin headache for three days after form laying upside down for so long. The worst was that I became the "expert" and got to do all the jets in our flight. I would also like to echo the others in this thread - sometimes it may have sucked doing it but there was a great persoanl reward to watching the jet fly again and I would not hesitate to do it all over again.

TimmayMan wrote:

ViperEnforcer wrote:

TimmayMan wrote:

yep I've play the inlet strut game too and they aren't easy. It seemed like the top bolt in the avionics bay went on and on forever. 8 hours is good time at least compared to when I did one in about 10-11ish hours. Canning it didn't make it any better on top of the fact that the lil dayshifter that kept finding them bad on the ramp didn't even do any of them.

Canned an inlet heater strut? Who approved that asinine can??? Here I thought canning an EPU was BS, LOL…

It's more than a 10 hour job, as the recovery alone can take a day or two, pending the inlet coating and paint cue times. Also, did your unit already have that special spline tool when you did it, or had to have it fabricated? Just about every 16 base I was at did not have one; that is not until they had a inlet strut change.

Those struts can easily be shot down though, as no dents or cracks are allowed.

Mike Valdez; USAF Retired

The same supers that had us canning crap like brakes, accumulator gauges and tires, . The final straw was when they tried to get us to can packing retainers on the pressure filter manifolds. That one got one of them fired finally. After that they calmed down. Actually we had the splined socket on hand. The one thing I do miss about that unit is they had awesome CTKs and special tools.

I guess it never ends.

While I understand the mission (Sorties for Satan), there are times when maintenance can be managed smarter. Canning filters and packing is flat out dangerous! Yeah, that’s firing ammo there, though it could have regressed to a worse scenario; and nobody wants to experience that!

Sadly, it’s sometimes easier for management to make a bad call maintenance action, knowing if they can wait a day or two, the component or part would be on hand. I guess if we did that, we’d have 2-3 cann jets all the time. Hummm, just like it was in DS; go figure.

Mike Valdez; USAF Retired

The hardest part is waiting on FUEL shop when I was at Luke. It will be out by 8pm then 10pm then 1200 then 0200 and all your there for is a tow I would love to replace the ADG over waiting on them. I would half to say that is the most painfull for me is Fuel shop. changing out the bracket that goes right behing the canopy on the bulk head aft becouse of the a crack in the bulk head happend on 86-296 61ST

I have to agree with you on that Pomeroy. I was stationed out at Luke for a while and fuel shop always gave us fits. Speaking of which your name is familiar, were you a Wild Duck? I was DCC on 84-239, A-FLT

No I was in the 61ST from 01-06 on 443 178 296 B FLT then went to A FLT after Silver Dep 03-04 I knew a couple of Ducks down there, Snivley, Wicklife, Fonz, couple others. they were all there about that time.

lets see i would have to say the hardest part of being a crew chief i would have to say is when you just have straight up retarded SUPERVISON that need to hear the pop!!! the ones that dont take care of there people and the good ol "O BY THE WAYS" that you get on a friday night on swings right as your wrapping things up. but at the same time i have had some great leadership and the amu ran smooth and people wanted to be there and they actually lety ou do your job without the micro managing things run better without being all in my cool aid!!!! now as far as parts wise on the ACFT other than ADG's i would have to say PDU's or throttle quad's there just a pain in the butt. thats just me though everone is differnt

I was an F-16 tech for 10 years and I'd have to say I agree. I actually used to lay out a huge sheet on the floor inside the shelter (Spangdahlem Germany) and clean and lay every piece on on the sheet in the position they came off. I wouldn't even try the ADG R&R without the adapter. I'd have to say R&R of the left and right LEF's together with all the rotory actuators, asymmetry brakes, and anglge gear boxes is a pain in the but as well. Of course, lets not forget about R&R and the pain in butt rigging of the PDU. Jeff Voitel 10/17/09 Very Happy

The gun, why did they scatter it all over the [Link pending approval] miss my Phantoms

ZSNOOK... you took most of the words right outta my mouth!!! I read this thread a couple times and came to the same conclusion... The hardest part of working on the Viper was dealing with the people around you, with things such as: Ignorant a$$ supervision who had either; A, no clue about the aircraft (Vipers) because they had never touched it, or B, just didn't care about anything other then furthering they're career! Or... working with guys that had no honest mechanical ability and couldn't comprehend the whole lefty loosey therory! Then there were those who thought they were the greatest thing since sliced bread when it came to turning wrenches! I have never said I was the best F-16 crew dawg on the ramp... (and I got my share recognition when it was due), but g-ddamnit I know I wasn't the worst!! Beer

guys dont mind my rookie-ness but can some one enlighten me on the number hours of required maintenance per hour of supersonic flight on the Viper. The Rafale and EF apparently need around 7-8 hours.

Anyone around from '83 when the fleet was one bad attitude from parked for fuel leaks? You guys were laying lines of putty inside and they stll leaked. I was point at GD/FW for R&D to find out why. Turned out the IAM union mechs had been complaining for months about screwws and nuts and were told to shut up and finish on [Link pending approval] found the out-of -spec hardware and ultimately traced back to vendor fraud not caught by QA - no [Link pending approval] vendor was busted by DIS . Another example of thoughtless mindless obedience and lax management.

tinton wrote:

Anyone around from '83 when the fleet was one bad attitude from parked for fuel leaks? You guys were laying lines of putty inside and they stll leaked. I was point at GD/FW for R&D to find out why. Turned out the IAM union mechs had been complaining for months about screwws and nuts and were told to shut up and finish on schedule.I found the out-of -spec hardware and ultimately traced back to vendor fraud not caught by QA - no testing.The vendor was busted by DIS . Another example of thoughtless mindless obedience and lax management.

WOW SOUND'S LIKE THE WHITE HOUSE LOL couldn't help it

Just to hit back on the inlet struts, we are going through a lil wave of them right now and I'll tell you replacing one on a D-model sucks. Makes doing one on a C-model seem like a breeze. D-models have a 1/4 of the space in the avionics bay that one seaters do.

Forum: F-16 Design & Construction

Hardest part about working on the F-16