Golden Knight Crew Chiefs prepare the fleet for the weekend #ArmyStrong

It  is certainly an honor to serve as a Crew Chief in such an elite organization as this.  The duties aren’t too estranged from the customary duties of an Army UH-60 Black Hawk Crew Chief which is where all Crew Chiefs on the team hail from.  You still work weekends, and when not working during the weekend, you are preparing the aircraft for the weekend.  This is simply how business is conducted in the Golden Knights.  Preparing an aircraft can range from servicing the landing gear with aircraft grease or ensuring oxygen masks are clean and functional, to emptying the aircraft toilet.  However, you will never find a toilet in an assault helicopter!  So the weekend is approaching, the aircraft have been serviced with fuel and  other fluids ranging from the “blue stuff” you see in port-o-john’s, to water methanol.   What’s water methanol?  In more simpler terms, water methanol is an “octane booster” for the engines on the Fokker F-27.  Typically it is injected into the engine during takeoff on those hot humid days at higher altitudes where air density is thinner and engine performance is degraded by the environmental conditions. 

Tomorrow (Wednesday the 2^nd) SGT Silvagnoli, SGT Bennett and I will be taking the aircraft’s first aid kits to the “ALSE shop.”  ALSE is a wide-spread term in the Army Aviation community, it  stands for Aviation Life Support Equipment.  This is where you go to get all your “cool guy” stuff, like Helmets, flight vests, knife’s, survival equipment, etc.  The Fokker F-27 (aka C-31A) has 6 first aid kits, and 3 survival kits.  These kits are jam packed with all sorts of essential items to survival.  Thus, it is vital they are inspected regularly.  After tomorrow’s inspection of the survival kits, the Fokker will be fully mission capable for the demonstration this weekend in Myrtle Beach + Florence, SC.  Tomorrow I will snap a few shots of the things I’ve described in this blog to give you a better picture of what’s been talked about.  Until then.  Blue Skies!  

Tagged as: Aviation