[woofa.express]

Low skilled engineer shifts the blame to pilot.

This story is about how one can acquire a name. In my case it is about ‘being a hard man on aeroplanes’.
In1982 I purchased the ‘latest, biggest and best’ ag plane on the market. An Airtractor 301- 600hp. In addition I purchased a new solids loader.
The total cost of these purchases was exactly K100. Now that may not sound a great deal but it was in 1982. The lease interest was 22% and on my overdraft I payed 24% because it was overdrawn.These interest rates compounded the fact we were experiencing drought. Difficulty in meeting debt obligation is the biggest stress factor I have experienced in my lifetime.
For the Airtractor I traded my Piper Brave which had a fuel burn of 60 litres per hour. This new Airtractor burned 120 litres per hour. This was making menervous. I had had no previous experience on radial engines.
Well the Airtractor came with a newly overhauled engine, by a quality workshop, Aeroengines in Los Angeles. At various times in the first 100 hours it experienced leakage between the cylinders and the heads. Cylinders being steel and the heads aluminium. Each manufactured separately and then the heads screwed to the cylinders. Well 5 of them leaked. Fieldair’s chief engineer, an ex military man said they were to be changed which they were. Gary got a name for being a hard man on engines.Openly stated. This covered the engineers lack of skill and experience on type.
Eric Noonan, an engineer who had many years experience overhauling radials for Beavers (450hp) later advised it was not abnormal and cylinders should only be changedit they failed to ‘take-up’. The more people I checked with supported Eric. Mean while Gary had acquired a name for being a hard man on aeroplanes. The oil consumption in the engine never settled down and that too was concerning. Fieldair had a visiting engineer / director from Aeroengines, Los Angeles . His name was Vern Truman. A true gentleman. He had me clean out the cylinders with ‘quicksilver engine cleaner’. A product of Mercury made for outboard engines. Further more treat regularly with ‘marvel mystery oil’ Mr Truman advised. The latter being a common practice with American operators. After quizzing me about my power settings I used he said ‘Gary, start using more engine power’. What a contradiction considering the name I had acquired and the reputation stuck for many years.
In my whole flying lifetime I have worked with only a few ex military engineers and almost always found their skill fairly low. This is in contrast to their egos.

Shots of both Beaver and Airtractor 301. Both from internet.
Tomorrow. The story of two competing operators.