When Crew Chiefs have too much free time (Read 802 times)

was anybody left inside? by mistake or otherwise??

nah, one guy had chorizo, and another had kielbasi for lunch. So I guess you could say it was a gas attack.


maybe someone else had kimchee??

Well, Mark, here goes. This happened while at Minot and we just finished launching everything that was going so there was a little time to sit and relax.

The expediter truck was one of those Metro Step Vans with the big engine cover that was perfect for putting the status board on and leaning it on the front of the dash. There were five or six of us crammed inside but that made it more cozy.

Then another guy came to the door and wanted in. When he looked inside he saw our smiling faces and started giving us the third degree. We were mostly 2-stripers and he was a Staff Sergeant. He started to pull rank on us when he suddenly shifted his attention to the engine cover under the status board. He said he saw something white come to the heater vent...from the other side! We all started teasing him about seeing things. Then, there it was, a little white weasel had somehow found it's way into the heater box. Naturally, we started wondering how we were going to get it out of there. Well, SSgt Jim decided that since he had leather gloves on, he was protected from injury. The weasel turned and the tail came out of the vent. SSgt Jim decided it was now or never. He grabbed the weasel by the tail and it very quickly turned around and bit him in the finger with the sharp little teeth that penetrated the leather very easily. SSgt Jim let out a yell and was saying it bit him. He took off the glove on the hand that was bitten and sure enough, there were two little holes on the end of his finger. The weasel disappeared and was not seen again. The bad news about that was that since the animal could not be tested for rabies, SSgt Jim was going to have a series of shots just in case the weasel was rabid. It didn't show any signs of being rabid but why take the chance. So SSgt Jim was the topic of the day for a couple weeks.

On one of our many TDY's to Tyndall from 539th, after our last day of flying we all went down to Panama City for some refreshments. One of our new pilots was kind of "stuffy" around us "enlisted" types. He was young and still fresh from Academy, but it was obvious he had very little TDY time.
Well he was quite surprised when he returned to McGuire and could not explain to Commander how the big surf board got in his weapons bay next to his flight bag.
We had a moped show up on another TDY trip. I don't remember if it was him again.

Great stuff guys! Keep 'em coming!

The weasel story reminded me of something I thought I had forgotten.

I was working swings for several months up at Grand Forks when I first got there, and one summer day in 2003 after roll call we all headed out to the flight line to relieve the day whores. Out in the middle of the line was an upside-down trash can.



Turns out the day guys found a dak-rat roaming around, and decided to "capture" it. Once they got it under the trash can, they didn't know what to do with it!

Well, we had lines to launch, so one of the guys suggested we drive by the trash can and knock it over with a pogo-stick.

I didn't know dak-rat's could run that fast!

www.memidex.com/dak-rat

(Edit: My bad - it wasn't a skunk. It was a dak-rat.)

I wish that bear would go back in to hibernation.
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Whist at The SCAB, in 13 FIS, we got used to icy, windy weather in Winter.

The base sits along the East bank of the Missouri River, and is prone to getting an icy mist/rain.

The Saber Dog had a large, one-piece canopy cover.

Someone, or several someones, decided that if we stood on the bottom edge of the canopy cover, held on to the top, then let the wind blow the thing out, it would be a perfect way to glide across the ice.

Yep, It was.

We would get between the two rows of airplanes, they couldn't take off because of the ice on the runways, and have races.

Until.

The base Safety Office honcho, a civilian with no sense and no sense of humor, went ballistic when he saw the canopy cover races on the ice.

He made it to the maintenance office and ranted and raved at Lou Weber, our Line Chief and threatened to take it to the base CO.

Lou sent someone from his office to tell us to knock-it-off.

He added, that if we were so free of time, which we were, there were two hangers and a bunch of other places that needed sweeping.

It was fun while it lasted, and no one got hurt.

I guess that is an accomplishment in itself.

Idle Crew Chiefs seem to manage to do things no one else thinks to do.

Jim Too

:god_bless_usa