I have memory troubles....
Due to the glut of downtime in the shop right now, myself and two other mechanics got sent down to Colorado Springs for a week to help with maintenance on another aircraft. This was about two weeks ago. It was a different experience for me- I've never been out of the shop before, so it was kind of scary on one level (new environment and all), but exciting at the same time to have a change of scenery and do some work on a live aircraft ("live" being one that's in for minor maintenance, as opposed to the massive 4 or 5 month refurb projects we do in the shop).
I wound up doing an inspection on the AVA (anti-vibration assembly). The AVA sits up on top of the AStar's main rotor head and acts as its name suggests- it dampens out vibrations from the rotor system using a lead weight that rides against three springs. Taking the thing apart is a proposition by itself because of the springs- they obviously have to be unloaded before you can disassemble it, and I have a tale about the first time I did one by myself for another time.
Anyhow, I got it all taken apart and cleaned, did the inspection, and went to put it back together. One of the differences between the field base we were at and our shop is that we couldn't print the maintenance manual references off the computer, so I kept having to run back and forth into the office to look things up. It took me about three times as long to reassemble it as usual, mainly because I kept making mistakes ("Oh, wait, that spacer was supposed to go there." "Oh, I put those bolts in upside down.") and then having to go back and redo things. Lesson learned from this: I'm not capable of doing anything without a maintenance manual in front of me. This isn't a bad thing (actually, it's a good reminder for me not to get overly confident now that I've got a bit of experience). However, it's something I wish I hadn't figured out with three other mechanics standing around waiting for me to finish up....
I wound up doing an inspection on the AVA (anti-vibration assembly). The AVA sits up on top of the AStar's main rotor head and acts as its name suggests- it dampens out vibrations from the rotor system using a lead weight that rides against three springs. Taking the thing apart is a proposition by itself because of the springs- they obviously have to be unloaded before you can disassemble it, and I have a tale about the first time I did one by myself for another time.
Anyhow, I got it all taken apart and cleaned, did the inspection, and went to put it back together. One of the differences between the field base we were at and our shop is that we couldn't print the maintenance manual references off the computer, so I kept having to run back and forth into the office to look things up. It took me about three times as long to reassemble it as usual, mainly because I kept making mistakes ("Oh, wait, that spacer was supposed to go there." "Oh, I put those bolts in upside down.") and then having to go back and redo things. Lesson learned from this: I'm not capable of doing anything without a maintenance manual in front of me. This isn't a bad thing (actually, it's a good reminder for me not to get overly confident now that I've got a bit of experience). However, it's something I wish I hadn't figured out with three other mechanics standing around waiting for me to finish up....