ArcticArtique

Well, it’s been a bit since my last post once again. I have been busy…busy…busy. My parts showed, my engine got here and it was time for me to go to work.

It has been a long winter, this has been a very long project, but was well worth it. My helicopter is flying once again! That deserves another exclamation point!!!

For those of you that are seeing my blog for the first time, Hi! I’m Scott, a helicopter mechanic who lives on the spectrum, lives in Alaska and is currently working in New Mexico to get my machine ready for the upcoming fire season in Alaska. The company I work for is Aero Tech.

My machine is a Bell 407. I first met N32AT last summer. I was sorely in need of work at the time and was given a tip that this company was looking for a mechanic to take care of their helicopter for them. I’ve never worked a fire service contract before, but maintenance is right up my alley. I gave them a call and the rest is history.

Anyway, I was here at the hangar earlier this winter taking care of my bird and some other things when a few problems were found. My engine decided it didn’t want to make power anymore and the helicopter had developed a vibration. Lots of pieces and parts had to be removed to be repaired. That was about a month or so ago, when I started taking things apart.

While the big items were out for repair, I had a stack of inspections about an inch thick to work through. There were lots of small discrepancies to be taken care of because of that pile of paperwork. I made my list, ordered any and everything I needed and went to work.

There were times I didn’t think this bird would be finished in time to get it north. There were also times I didn’t think that pile of paperwork was going to go away. I kept digging. I had my plan and kept working at it, chipping away one problem at a time. Just about the time I finished up with all my small stuff, my big parts made it back.

The swashplate was the first to get reinstalled, along with the rotor head and all the flight controls removed just to get to the part I had to remove.

A few days after I finished that area my engine showed up in a crate. It took me just under twenty hours from the time I opened the crate until the machine was ready for its first ground check run. Yep, I was beat and I was nervous. I always get nervous on the first run-up. There were so many things taken apart that you just never know what is going to happen. The first start was flawless!

I had several ground runs to make, vibration levels to check, fluid leaks to look for, gauges to watch, and curious dogs to shoo away. Yes, Aero Tech is dog friendly and I like that!

After a day of running the machine and checking everything, I was ready to put it in the air today. Yeah, again I was nervous, just like every other time I have gotten to this point in a project. I had to check vibration levels in the air and this process can take quite some time. Not this time. The first flight out, this felt like about the smoothest 407 I have ever been in. I’ve been in quite a few. My engine checks were great, it’s making all kinds of power now. This was a welcome end to a very long project.

I am heading home in a few days to get some time with Kitty before I head back to Galena, Alaska for another summer of fire fun. My two pilots will fly the machine from here up through Canada and on to Fairbanks where we will stage to go to our summer home. I will meet them up there.

I am proud to say that after this winter, this is truly my machine. I know every nook and cranny. I know what it likes and what it doesn’t like. Most important.

I know that this is a good machine!