Baptism by fire...and Jet-A

bundee80

bundee80

Well-Known Member
Holy cow! It's been a hectic week. I just started a new job Monday at an FBO and boy, was it the week to start. We've got the Oregon Airshow coming this weekend, so it's been pretty busy, to say the least. I've never worked the line before, so my head is spinning even more so.

I took my first Jet-A bath today refueling a news chopper based on our ramp. She said top it off, so I figured it was going to need more than 7 gallons...not so much! Luckily, someone had an eye on me and made sure I didn't freak out and drop the nozzle and run for the hills - which was my first instinct.

We've got Sean Tucker, his support crew, and Renny Price parked with us. I'm not too familiar with acrobatics, but supposedly they're pretty high-profile performers. :dunno:

This is going to be a pretty fun gig, I think, since I'll be on the go constantly. We've got a pretty big maintenance department that seems to be asking us to move a plane every 2 minutes :crazy: and Life Flight based with us too. Sorry, this was more me venting than anything. Wish me luck on surviving my first week working on the line!
 
Welcome to the club of wearing Jet-A. I have found that fueling any helicopter that is not a single point can be messy no matter how hard you try not to spill. We have a few medical planes and one or two medical helos based with us. Sounds like you are going to get busy with the airshow. Just keep your eyes and ears open. Oh yeah, and if you think that getting fuel on you is bad, wait until you have a lavatory hose pop off while dumping. That is just about as nasty as it gets. Good luck to you on your first week.
 
Awesome to hear, the best way to learn how to fuel a helicopter is the wrong way. I learned on a Bell 430 with about three gallons in my face...yes, literally in my face.

Tips:

Safety and situational awareness in a time critical environment. Remember that, it will take you far.

Teamwork. Part of that is communication with you co-workers. Use it, it helps!

Things will come with time, just be open minded and don't get frustrated.

You'll be fine, have fun!
 
I hated fueling helos. The worst one was the AS350.

Regarding lavs, be careful when taking the "donut" out in the Hawkers.
 
Part of me wishes I never left my line service job. We had 2 news chopper Bell Jetrangers that were based with us. One was made about 30 years before the other. The older one had some stupid thing that stuck out from the fuel tank where you had to point the nozzle downwards. Hated that thing. It seemed like you had to stop every 2 seconds or it'd overflow on you. And the stupid cap that you had to lock and unlock with a key. The newer Jetranger had a fuel cap where you could just hold the nozzle straight out and fire away full blast. Glad to see they fixed that. King Airs were like that (a lot of the older ones you had to hold the nozzle at a weird angle. Made topping off a pain in the arse). Glad to see they fixed that at some point in time.


Oh, and two words for you guys. Dry. Lav. ;) I loved being able to say "sorry, we can't service your lav, we don't have a lav cart." Much better than carrying off a bucket of piss off to the bathrooms while the passengers stand around the plane.
 
It was just a matter of time until I had a run-in with the lav cart. Luckilly it wasn't draining the lav, but draining the lav cart itself. The pump on it is trippin, so we have to plug our hand on the end of the hose to create suction, then let go to let it flow. The problem is, it creates a big splash of poop juice. Ick.

Two hangars down, someone has a
Grumman Goose, and I had to top that off. Not fun...

Btw - thanks for the tips! I definitely have my head on a swivel even though I feel like I'm paranoid when I check my 6 every 4 seconds. Any tips on getting out the fuel smell off my skin?
 
n57flyguy said:
Awesome to hear, the best way to learn how to fuel a helicopter is the wrong way. I learned on a Bell 430 with about three gallons in my face...yes, literally in my face.

Tips:

Safety and situational awareness in a time critical environment. Remember that, it will take you far.

Teamwork. Part of that is communication with you co-workers. Use it, it helps!

Things will come with time, just be open minded and don't get frustrated.

You'll be fine, have fun!
Click to expand...

:yeahthat:

Use this job to your advantage. Network network network! I have gotten many airplane rides that I would not have gotten without working here.

BTW, if you don't mind me asking what do you make an hour? What kind of field are you at (B, C, D etc)?
 
BCTAv8r said:
I hated fueling helos. The worst one was the AS350.

Regarding lavs, be careful when taking the "donut" out in the Hawkers.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Take a bucket with you. And don't pull the cord before removing the donut.

Beware of fueling the Citation CJ series aircraft. They have screens in the filler and can easily get backed up if you are too busy watching the meter.
 
bundee80 said:
Btw - thanks for the tips! I definitely have my head on a swivel even though I feel like I'm paranoid when I check my 6 every 4 seconds. Any tips on getting out the fuel smell off my skin?
Click to expand...
Being paranoid is better than being aloof.

The best way to get fuel out of your hands is by not getting any on them in the first place. If you haven't already, invest in a pair of gloves. The automotives types are cheap and often do the job. Avgas doesn't suck that much to get on you, but JetA is very persistent.

soonerpilot06 said:
Yeah. Take a bucket with you. And don't pull the cord before removing the donut.

Beware of fueling the Citation CJ series aircraft. They have screens in the filler and can easily get backed up if you are too busy watching the meter.
Click to expand...
I wish I knew all these things we eventually pick up, on my first day. Screw the NATA with those idealistic training videos. Someone should make a book with all these tips.

BTW, not sure if you've noticed, but there is a line service forum on here.
 
BCTAv8r said:
I wish I knew all these things we eventually pick up, on my first day. Screw the NATA with those idealistic training videos. Someone should make a book with all these tips.
Click to expand...
Are you speaking ill of the training videos with the 80's soundtracks and cheesy moustaches? For shame, Sir.
 
JordanD said:
Are you speaking ill of the training videos with the 80's soundtracks and cheesy moustaches? For shame, Sir.
Click to expand...

My old Line Service Manager legit looked like the guy in those videos.

70's porn stache, mullet and all.
 
N519AT said:
My old Line Service Manager legit looked like the guy in those videos.

70's porn stache, mullet and all.
Click to expand...
I swore if I heard the words. "Stop, and check with your supervisor" anymore after those videos I was gonna shoot myself in the face.
 
$10 an hour. Not doing it for a living since I'm in school and live with the parental units. Class D, I think. I know about the Line Service forum - just venting on how busy I've been. :)

I've never really followed aerobatics, but man, Sean Tucker was pretty freaking amazing. The maneuvers where he hangs on the prop and floats look unreal.

I haven't finished the training video series, because I keep falling asleep watching them - seriously. :crazy:

I noticed the special tool for the Hawker and we've got one parked. I'll see if I can not be around if one needs service.
 
BCTAv8r said:
Being paranoid is better than being aloof.

The best way to get fuel out of your hands is by not getting any on them in the first place. If you haven't already, invest in a pair of gloves. The automotives types are cheap and often do the job. Avgas doesn't suck that much to get on you, but JetA is very persistent.
Click to expand...

:yeahthat:

I wish I knew all these things we eventually pick up, on my first day. Screw the NATA with those idealistic training videos. Someone should make a book with all these tips.

BTW, not sure if you've noticed, but there is a line service forum on here.
Click to expand...

NATA online is not that bad actually....still training videos though.

I vote for a collective piece of writing for JCs home page on line service.

And on lavs, I found it best to accept the fact that no matter what you do you will eventually get some encounter with them. I still almost throw up when we dump one of our base tenants because they use a different mixture of blue.
 
n57flyguy said:
:yeahthat:



NATA online is not that bad actually....still training videos though.

I vote for a collective piece of writing for JCs home page on line service.

And on lavs, I found it best to accept the fact that no matter what you do you will eventually get some encounter with them. I still almost throw up when we dump one of our base tenants because they use a different mixture of blue.
Click to expand...
Apparently somebody dropped a deuce in our Citation lav and nobody knew about it for like a year, I guess since no other pax used it for a while. I heard it was pretty unpleasant for the guys that ended up having to clean it...
 
bundee80 said:
$10 an hour. Not doing it for a living since I'm in school and live with the parental units. Class D, I think. I know about the Line Service forum - just venting on how busy I've been. :)

I've never really followed aerobatics, but man, Sean Tucker was pretty freaking amazing. The maneuvers where he hangs on the prop and floats look unreal.

I haven't finished the training video series, because I keep falling asleep watching them - seriously. :crazy:

I noticed the special tool for the Hawker and we've got one parked. I'll see if I can not be around if one needs service.
Click to expand...

You at Aero?
 
bundee80 said:
$10 an hour. Not doing it for a living since I'm in school and live with the parental units. Class D, I think. I know about the Line Service forum - just venting on how busy I've been. :)
Click to expand...

Wow, be thankful for that. I work at a Class C airport and we start new guys at $8.50/hr. I'm a "team leader" (shift supervisor more or less) and I haven't broke $10/hr and probably never will.
 
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