6 Vol. 10 / No. 4 / April 2018 Global Aviator
Flying In Africa
A large portion of one’s
flying career will be spent
dealing with an engineer,
whether you are lucky
enough to still fly a classic
aircraft which requires a
flight engineer or dealing
with a ground engineer as
a circumstance of events.I recall an early friend in flying
once relating to me that all engineers
know how to start all aircraft, and heBy Richard BrowneEngineers
was right. It wasn’t long before I’d
be testing his theory actually when
one morning I was struggling to start
a little Beech Sierra and an engineer
walked over, calmly told me to shift
and brought the power plant to life in
one motion. I was naturally slightly
embarrassed but also in awe of the
theory and the conclusion to prove it.
So, it was throughout my
progression in flying, I was to meet a
number of wonderful people who had
a great ability to repair aircraft despite
what us pilots tried to do to them.
It started on a five-year stint
in the contract world flying turbo-
props in dire places around Africa
and Pakistan. I recall helping out
changing an engine on a Kingair in
the Kabul snow, watching these guys
just get on with it. Each step was
methodical and complete, not a nut
left loose, nor a wire-lock skipped.
I managed to blow the nitrogen
out of a nose-wheel oleo in
Afghanistan, way up north in the
mountains, on a steel runway. After
having vaguely made myself heard to
the base in Pakistan via HF radio, an
engineer was dispatched in another
aircraft and he got us ready in no time.
Later in my airline sojourn I have
met many professional gents with
whom I am still friends. I relied heavily
on the flying variants as a junior
First-Officer especially in the face of a
persuasive Captain. I’d always ask if the
engineer was happy to fly the machine,
if he looked at his feet or came out
with a negative then I’d be packing my
flight bag and heading out the door. I
learnt to trust them implicitly and this
has held me in good stead till now.
A large portion of the ground
time back then was spent with the
guys who remained at base and
had to attend to plenty snags in
short turns. They were miracle
workers and kept those aircraft
flying and earning money for
greedy managements and owners.
Currently the ground engineering
team I work with are cut from the
same cloth, they’re spot on and
have an air of alacrity to boot.
Despite them being Japanese and my
fluency in the language is heavilyretarded, we are able to communicate
towards the needs of the aircraft
and the show keeps moving. They
are extremely knowledgeable with
regards the aircraft systems and
limitations which makes my life
easier trying to meet a slot time or
comply safely with an MEL/CDL.
Aside from all of this my
partner and I have built a hangar
at the Morningstar Airfield near
Cape Town, we called it DogBox.
It is here where I have met more of
these superb people who deserve
such rich accolades but really just
go about their day humbly and with
grace, making plans and turning
out the most unreal results. Not to
mention they are all so easy to engage
with and total gentlemen as well.
I cannot think actually of an
engineer who has not given freely of
their time to offer advice or get their
hands dirty to help. I am a pilot and
I have met many pilots who cannot
share the same highlight, in fact I’ve
met a few who I’ve not spent time
remembering due to their overhyped
self or sullen outlooks. Quite obviously
these are the rare cases, but it has to
be said that engineers in general are
superb folk worthy of high praise.
I often wonder where they are
headed in a world beset with liability
and propensity for mechanising the
very jobs we should be preserving.
Remember Rosie the Riveter? Now
a lost art, not forever but for the
most part gone. I was watching
two gents rivet last week and they
resembled a synchronised ballet,
the result was of course, perfect.
Attempts have been made to try
and get youngsters to shadow certain
engineers in the hope they will endear
themselves to the engineering side of
aircraft maintenance but the youth
just don’t seem too interested in it,
mostly the feedback was along the
thread of what were we paying and
how would we get them transported
home. I, for one, lost interest.
So, wherever you practise this
art of aviation and have access to
an engineer, treat him or her well,
learn from them and use them when
you can. They have an amazing
eye, they can spot mistakes and
save you long term budget by
doing it right the first time.
I look forward every day to
meeting up with and learning from
Renier and Chris. •Top: DogBox.Left: Chris and Renier hard at work.