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| AN/APM-282, for testing the AIM-7 Sparrow missile (Source) |
A good tester has to be kinda flexible, Semper Gumby would be a good motto for us.
One thing to always check with test equipment is to make sure that everything is hooked up properly. The second thing to check is that power is actually being applied to the unit. The stuff usually doesn't perform up to spec in O.F.F. mode.
There's a reason for that.
The flight out was pretty good. Was pleasantly surprised in Atlanta when the early boarding announcement was made and it included retired military along with active duty. I was the fourth or fifth guy on the plane. Of course, third or fourth guy had no clue how to put his bag in the overhead compartment. Sigh ...
My fix for that is, if you want to carry something on to the aircraft which has to be stowed in the overhead bin, thou shalt demonstrate at the check-in counter that one knows how to do that. Maybe have a special line for those folks. Too many times I've been standing in the aisle waiting for someone to stow their effing gear. Same goes for getting off the flying machine, demonstrate you know how. If not, you pays your shilling to check the bag. None of this "gate check" stuff.
I paid, you should too.
Anyhoo ...
Good flights, there's a reason I prefer to fly Delta. Sunday demonstrated a number of those reasons.
I like Paweł's reports from the East, he's paying attention, I like that. I don't agree with all of his conclusions as to what the West should do, but I understand where he's coming from.
It's not our fight ...
Yet.
But it could become ours if we don't proceed cautiously yet decisively.
Too bad that the grown-ups aren't in charge anymore.
On that note, here's an interesting article about Putin and his generals, one has to wonder ...
Being on the West Coast physically and on the East Coast mentally takes some getting used to, my subconscious says "Hey, dufus! It's midnight! Go to bed." But my conscious mind knows that "Nope, it's only 9 PM." Reconciling the two takes a few days.
But then in two weeks I get to reverse that situation.
Hey, it's why they pay me the big bucks. (I think ...)
I know this is a short post but I'm tired, I'm cranky, and I need to get more sleep.
Can't do that if I'm "entertaining¹" you folks when I could be in my rack.
Sorry, harsh, I know but ...
Damn, I'm tired ...
See you later, hopefully with (as the immortal Sully might say), "More better stuff."
G'night y'all².
* SITREP = Situation Report
¹ Dear lord I hope you find my ramblings entertaining!
² I know it's not night time as you read this, but it is as I write it. Move along, nothing to see here. I'm going to go yell at clouds. Or something.
Well for the next two weeks Sarge your West Coast visit and your family are alternating one and two in priority with this blog always third, eh? The longer the Ukraine war drags on the more prescient that linked article becomes.
ReplyDeleteTo your first point, yeah, sorry, but you have to prioritize.
DeleteThat war is indeed dragging on.
My statement was that's the way it should be, don't mind the blog catching can Sarge.....:)
DeleteNah, I get that, but I feel bad about it.
DeleteIn the shipyard, I found that even when the ONOFF function is correct, any 3 phase 440 VAC motor will ignore the 50/50 chance of rotating in the correct direction, and spin the wrong way at first start about 95% of the time.
ReplyDeleteI found it's much easier to adjust to time zone changes when you are on an aircraft carrier sailing eastward or westward across the Atlantic.
I don't think your employer would allow you to get to the west coast by sailing around the horn.
Motor spinning the wrong way? No bueno, bad things happen!
DeleteNo different than in a biopharmaceutical lab: The equipment must assume the "O.N." position for functionality (it has happened more than once).
ReplyDeleteOf all the spectacles of modern travel, the insertion of items into the overhead bins remains one of the most darkly humorous and frustrating. Certainly height can play a role for some people, but it seems far more prevalent that people struggle with lifting it over their heads or forcing a 3' bag into a 2' space. I am almost in favor of simply banning all overhead bin luggage except for a single personal carryon. It would at least making loading and unloading faster.
I appreciate Pawel's articles as well, as they are on-the-ground honest and not filtered through any media.
The article was interesting - although I wonder about the final outcome. His suggestion is one - I cannot believe that Putin (former KGB) does not have his own backup plan in place with whatever replaced the KGB. Come to think of it, this could be a contributing cause to why more than one general has died during this excursion.
The worst of all possible worlds would be 1) Putin remains in power; and 2) The Russian General Staff actually applies the lessons it has learned in this war.
Agree with your last, not good things.
DeleteI think my body (and enclosed brain) can correctly and comfortably accept one time zone change in a day. That's like DST, on/off. Two time zones makes me cranky for a day. Five (PDT to EST in the air) laid me out for a week. Oh, I was up and moving about, putting the pieces together, but I wasn't really aware of what I was doing.
ReplyDeleteOne at a time, yup, that works well. I've done that. Jumping across the country takes a bit longer.
DeleteNow go to Asia from the East Coast, or Europe for that matter. Going west, in my experience, is a little easier. At least it was when I was young!
"Can't do that if I'm "entertaining¹" you folks when I could be in my rack. Sorry, harsh, I know but ... Damn, I'm tired ..."
ReplyDeleteI expect nothing less that brutal honesty from a sergeant. Even a retired one. Hit the rack NAV-OAFS. We'll be around the scuttlebutt until you come back online.
Roger that STxAR!
DeleteApparently you were lucky to be flying Delta because the other airlines all canceled thousands and thousands of flights. Since switching over my loyalty to Delta from united, I haven't had anything more than brief delays. Business trip at the end of the month has me on Delta as well fortunately.
ReplyDeleteI like Delta, United has also been good to me. The trip home is on the latter, we'll see how that goes.
DeleteWhen I worked in chemical research one of the PHd's said there was only expected results and unexpected results, never good or bad results. You learn more about the process from the unexpected results.
ReplyDeleteI once drove 400 miles overnight because an analyzer failed during start up. The young engineer was frantic that the program was going to be delayed. She had turned the sampling pump ON but forgotten to turn the power switch to ON. Failure to follow the start up procedure. She was mortified but I covered for her with her boss. We all do stupid things once in awhile.
Yup, we're all human.
DeleteI found it entertaining, mostly because of prior experiences.
ReplyDeleteI figured that you've "been there, done that."
DeleteI gotta admit, I was a little worried when I saw your opening photo. My first thought was "Good Lord, has the US DOD situation gotten so bad they're back to using Analog Test Equipment?"
ReplyDeleteAs to Time Zones, you ain't 22 anymore, Bubba. It takes a while to get acclimatized (Atimeatized?). Hot chamomile tea (or maybe a wee dram) helps. Writing and or getting riled up doesn't.
And. last but not least, tired/sleepy people make mistakes.
End of Sermon. Go forth and do great things.
I liked the photo, brought back memories. Though I've never used that test set, munitions guys maybe, depot for sure. But not on the flight line.
DeleteI heard that my Admiral is going to be riding Zumwalt this Friday. Are you by chance working on board her, or still working Michael Mansour?
ReplyDeleteMonsoor. I avoid Zumwalt.
DeleteMonsoor- I knew it didn't look right when I wrote it!
Delete👍
DeleteHow many Sparrow test units would a squadron have?
ReplyDeleteOf that sort? None. Also bear in mind that Navy flying squadrons are a whole different world from the Air Force. Air Force squadrons don't have their own maintainers or munitions guys. They are in separate squadrons and work on all of the jets.
DeleteWell, technically, a fighter squadron would have 18-24 airplanes. Load them with sparrows and you've got "testers". They either fire, guide and fuse and therefore tested good or....
DeleteHahaha! Bit of a stretch but yeah, if you don't mind wasting millions. Oh, wait, we're talking about the gubmint ...
DeleteNever mind.