LOOK - NO BRAKES!

(‘Astra Tech’ was a periodical published by the Technical/Engineering Branch in 1985, to emulate ‘Air Clues’ flight safety magazine of the Royal Air Force. As a matter of interest, I was present at the conference when it was planned, and when suggestions for a name was called,  suggestion by Squadron Leader GY de Silva (Later Air Vice Marshal) was 'Air Clueless'. Unfortunately,  it died a natural death after two issues, predictably so as in the case of so many short lived projects commenced with good intentions, as engineering staff had to work on it in addition to their normal duties. This article is  what I wrote for the first Issue of ‘Astra Tech’ anonymously as a CONDOR ( Confidential Direct Occurrence Report). I was then a Squadron Leader, serving as the Chief Ground Instructor at Air Force Academy, China Bay. Story refers to the days of my first appointment as an Engineer Officer in  the Flying Training Wing, China Bay,  as a Pilot Officer/Flying Officer during the period 1976-79)

CONDOR

( Confidential Direct Occurrence Report)

Quite a few years ago I was appointed a junior Engineering Officer at a flying unit. This was my first appointment after training, and I proceeded to learn whatever possible skills that I could, without however, I must confess, getting any grease on my hands.

One of the jobs I so learnt was ground running of aircraft, which in. those practically non-flying days,  done once a week or so, to keep them in flying condition. Senior Aero Engines tradesmen, having been bored stiff with weekly ground running ritual considered me an asset, since I, in my enthusiasm, used to take a load off their shoulders.

A Dove aircraft was to be ‘ground-run’ one day, and I, now a veteran of all of two years or so experience, got inside having taken the customary walk around with a cursory glance for any anomalies. Everything was O.K, except for the fact that I did not have a ground running Check List. This I considered to be only a minor inconvenience, having done the job enough times to remember all the checks.

I asked. for the ground power to be switched on, primed the engines, and  having got the signal for start up, got the port engine going.  Immediately as it started up, I became aware of an unusual movement of the aircraft, which felt as if it was moving over uneven, bumpy ground. Curious phenomenon that was, and I looked around in bewilderment, but noticed nothing wrong. Even the tradesman standing in front, ready to give the clearance signal for starting of the other engine did not seem to have noticed anything unusual. Otherwise, he would certainly have made me aware.

Bumpiness persisted, but by now, I had almost assumed this to be something natural, but not encountered by me so far. So, I went about with starting the starboard engine. For those who had not started up a Dove, I must say that this is little trickier than it sounds – particularly after it had been lying in the hanger for a week – but I was by then fairly good at it and usually got both engines going without too much of a fuss.

Next came the moving of the aircraft onto the metal chocks prior to run-up, and I released the brakes – and nearly passed out. I did not have the brakes on! In a flash, the reason for this unusual movement I notices earlier became very clear indeed. I still dread to think of the consequences if I had normal wooden chocks, where aircraft is just run-up as it is. There was, if I remember correctly, a couple of other aircraft right in front, and had I opened the throttles,  the Dove would have jumped chocks and slammed into them. Whirling propellers would have chopped whatever in front into bits, and I would have ended up in………., well, the mind boggles.

Anyway, it took me a few moments to get over the shock of  realization that I had made a major blunder, and worse still, that I was not quite as competent as I thought to be. I sheepishly looked around, and to my relief, no one had seen the error. Even the tradesman who had assisted in the start up had moved away, leaving me to my own devices.

Regaining my composure, I moved the aircraft onto the chocks and carried on with the run-up. Needless to say that it was the last day that I  ever got into a Dove without a Checklist.

You’d by now have guessed the moral of the story. Even the most experienced can, and do, make mistakes by trying to rely on the memory, which is, at best, unreliable. As a result, some seemingly simple omissions can lead to embarrassing, and sometimes disastrous, consequences. So there is no other way than ‘going by the book’.

(This is not the end of the tale. Although I had said that this was the last time I got into a Dove without a checklist, I did the same thing with a Cessna 150, which I started up without applying brakes. That time, thanks to my Dove experience, I immediately diagnosed the problem and put the brakes on, before anything serious happened or anyone noticed.  Speaks volumes for my luck, to have done the same mistake twice and have got away with it!)