Wednesday, February 23, 2022

Started Three Posts, Finished This One ...

(Source)
So today I started a book post, figured I'd go back to France and see what Guillaume was up to, then decided, "Nah, I need to spin out the Norwegian thread first, then we'll get back to France."

I dillied, I dallied, I zigged, and I zagged - before you know it, I was playing, "Oh dear, is that the time?"

That's when the Motivation Gauge bottomed out and kept going. So what I did, with all that back and forth indecisiveness, was basically I stripped out a screw head somewhere in my brain.

Uh, what?

Okay, an example. Below you see the radar package of the mighty F-4D Phantom II. The radar package is extended (damme, I can still name all the parts and could probably dismount them in my sleep, not that I've ever done that before) and Panel 4L has been removed which is the only way to remove the CW¹ Modulator. If you're an old WCS² gorilla, you'll note that said modulator has indeed been removed.

Note the yellow arrow (which Panel 4L is below), the little dot it points to is a screw hole, there were a gazillion of them on Panel 4L. The screws used to affix the panel were made of brass. One had to use care in removing them, or securing them.

(Read Me)
If you did not, you could strip the head of the screw, making it a pain in the ass, if not downright impossible for your average gorilla to remove with a speed handle. Below is an illustration of a speed handle. It lets you screw things in and screw things out quickly. (Did I mention it also allows you to screw things up quickly as well? No? I should have ...)

No, we didn't use a powered drill, many bad things could happen ...

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Anyhoo, once one (or more, usually more) screw heads were found to be stripped (uh, uh, wasn't me Sarge, I swear it came in this way ...), the Sheet Metal shop would have to be called in order to get the screw out. They were very good at that task. I don't know why I never watched them do that, I might have learned something. Then again, that would be one more job I'd have to do, if I knew how.

Have I ever mentioned that I'm lazy?

Left to right: good screw - uh, slow down cowboy - put down the speed handle - damn it, somebody call the sheet metal shop
(Source)
Anyhoo, in the attempt to write a book post, which became two book posts, I must have stripped a screw somewhere in my brain.

I've got a call in to the Sheet Metal shop, no doubt they'll have that fixed tomorrow.

One hopes ...





¹ CW (Continuous Wave) Modulator, basically modulates the continuous wave energy transmitted by (you guessed it) the CW Transmitter, which is what the Aim-7 Sparrow missile rides to the target. The receiver for that energy is located in the nose of the missile, radiation reflects off the intended target, missile detects it, missile chases it, enemy airplane goes boom. Hopefully.
² WCS = Weapon Control System, a gorilla is the individual who works upon said system. Had something to do with the ability to lift heavy things and the propensity to drag one's knuckles along the ramp while they (me too) walked from Phantom to Phantom. Fixing things and annoying the other maintenance types. Aircrew were advised not to feed us or to make eye contact. Not saying we were aggressive, well, yes I am.

38 comments:

  1. Reminds me of the time at Tachikawa when the plane captain was dealing with a stripped screw. He called the AF maintenance squadron and they sent a guy over with the tools to remove it. I was surprised to learn that was his sole job, going to different squadrons and removing problem fasteners.

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    1. And that individual was very good at doing that! (At least the guys on Okinawa and in Korea were.)

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  2. Not lazy, just adding to the suspense.
    I work with a bunch of young'uns that can't take anything apart or put back together anything with a simple hand tool. They all insist on using cordless drills. The amount of stripped out heads and sheet metal holes is downright criminal. There's something to be said about the "feel" of that tool in your hand.

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    1. You're absolutely right, there's times when feeling how the tool is responding is critical. (Says the guy who has stripped more than one fastener using power drills.)

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    2. Do some the screws have to be torqued down? So they are firmly seated, but not in danger of popping the head off, or stripping out?

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    3. Not on Panel 4L, there are four bolts (rather large) which hold the radome in place, those have to be torqued to a specific value.

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    4. Phillips-head screws are an invention of Satan! It is to prevent this sort of crap that TORX-head screws were invented. There may be stronger head designs available, I don't work in the industry. The Phillips design cams the screw driver out of the head and initiates stripping.

      Now, In the era of the F4 design, I'm not sure that TORX or other parallel-edge designs were (readily) available.

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    5. They probably weren't but if they were the screw contract no doubt went to the lowest bidder!

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  3. "Why Philips head?" is a better question.

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    1. You get a better "grip" between the bit and the screw head, with the slotted screw heads the bit slides out far too often. Phillips is best for those dark, rainy nights on the flight line. I prefer Phillips head screws for damn near everything.

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    2. Badgers prefer Torx head.
      At an air show, at Truck Field in Madison, I was allowed to get a good look at an F-14 Tomcat. Looking at the wing and fuselage panels, Grumman must have had a screw foundry going 24/7 when they made those things!

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    3. Too bad you weren't on the design team for the Phantom.

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    4. I have never seen so many screws in one place!

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    5. Lot's of fasteners on panels used to access components, keeps them from coming off at inopportune times.

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    6. Crusty Old TV Tech here. And here I, a certified Comm Weenie, thought the Ground Radio shop was the master of fastener disaster! Every R-390 has built-in a set of self stripping screws. It must be that way, given the number one finds in the average receiver.

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    7. Not a surprise, almost expected!

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  4. Ironically timely post Sarge. Last Sunday at the Rabbit Shelter they asked me to break down some bases with rollers to reuse (Price of lumber being what it is and all). Phillips head wood screws, maybe 3/4" long. I tried to remove the first two by hand (that was a joy), then thought I would try the power drill. At that point they feel into two categories: the ones I could remove completely or partially with the drill, or the ones that I could just start to strip. Same screw, same wood. I left with two still embedded - I think part of the problem was not having a sufficiently power drill, but it also does not help that people tend to just grind screws in - works great for attaching things, less so for taking them apart.

    My Father in law, The Master Sergeant, was a C-4 Mechanic for his entire career. I am sure he has many similar stories.

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    1. If you drive the screw in until the bit starts to "chatter," good luck getting it back out again. (DAMHIK)

      I' sure your Father-in-law has a LOT of those stories.

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  5. Bring that brain on over. I'll get it up in the mill and we can zip it right out, driving in a plug, and bore and thread for the new one. ;)

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  6. I've neve quite understood the sometimes confusing phillips head screw design. Too many options lead to the wrong driver, stripped heads, and the usual "push down harder" approach, which sometime leads to success. If not, the removing the screw requires wizardry I haven't perfected.

    At my age, loose screws seem to be becoming less of a problem than forgotten ones. It's like reassembling something, having two more to place, and they're nowhere to be found.

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    1. Our problem was simplified by the screws being made to a certain standard and our tool box only having the bit for that particular head. But yeah, there are multiple sizes and it does get wearisome at times having to go and get the correct bit.

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  7. Ah, power tools. Ever try to change a tire after the tire stores guys used a powered impact wrench to tighten the lug nuts? I can only imagine something as delicate as a brass screw. Speaking of tires, a proper sized socket and breaker bar from the pawn shop are in all my vehicles.

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    1. Yeah, that's no fun. On one of my older cars the tire iron that came with it was a joke. So I did something similar, bought one which could handle the idiots and their power tools. (One place I liked back in the day actually had a torque wrench to check to make sure they didn't over-torque the lug nuts.)

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    2. (Don McCollor)...In my distant college days, I had an old car that ended up (from shade tree fixing of two adjacent snapped lug nuts) with one wheel having three right-handed and two left-handed lug nuts. That would have made it a joy to change a tire on a dark and stormy night...

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  8. I much prefer Robertson screw heads (the square drive.) Fewer sizes, easy to match, don't slip, ... ah well.

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  9. I have found a reversible drill and a left hand drill bit, preferably the same diameter as the tap drill, will often work miracles, unless the fastener has been in a marine environment. we had access to a table of precedence of electrolysis which was a big help in selecting which fastener to use with which metal. Old Guns

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    1. Not sure how the Phantom designers picked what they did, no doubt they had their reasons.

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  10. It would also help if the drill users weren't too lazy to use the adjustable torque clutch on most modern drills. Set it low, then final tighten by hand.

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    1. Ah, modern drills, did they have those back in the period from '76 to '80? That would have been nice!

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  11. It's all about screw extractors. One brand was E-Z Out, which became a shorthand, sort of Like Kleenex, or 'Coke' in the South ("Get me a Coke!" "What kind" "A Sprite!"). Better yet, it would be about intelligence and care in installing screws, but good luck with that, and sometimes mistakes happen anyway.
    --Tennessee Budd

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    1. Yup, good things to have, hard to find on an Air Force flightline back in the day.

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  12. Ooops, I missed a question mark after "What kind"; proving the fallibility of even the purest purist.
    --TB

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Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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