PS Magazine - TB 43-PS-675
PS, The Preventative Maintenance Monthly
ISSUE 675
FEBRUARY 2009
36
PS 675
FEB 09
Dear Sergeant Blade,
The searchlight underneath the nose of the AH-64D is a delicate piece of
equipment. When it’s time to replace the light, we have three options:
1.
After disconnecting the light, let it hang by the wiring. Doing it this way
puts stress on the wires which can cause breaks.
2.
Use tie-wraps to hold up the light to keep stress off the wires. But
this method creates another problem. Using tie-wraps makes it difficult to
change or switch wires because the light is swinging and unstable.
3.
Make it a two-person job. One mechanic sits on the ground and
awkwardly balances two lights over his head while the second mechanic
switches over eight individual wires to the new light.
None of these options worked for us.
We’ve come up with a fourth option that does! We made a height
adjustable searchlight stand that we place under the searchlight. It makes
changing and switching wires to a new searchlight simpler and one mechanic
can do it by himself.
To make the stand, we welded together various tubing. It has a stable
base, it’s adjustable and has a platform large enough to fit two searchlight
assemblies side by side. The sides and back are 1-in high to keep the
unattached searchlights from falling off. We also use a bungee cord to
secure the two searchlights. We can adjust the stand to the height we
need to change searchlights.
Just check the drawings and you can see it doesn’t require much effort
for a shop to make the stand. Our mechanics have used this stand for a
long time and they love it! Here are the plans for the stand and what the
finished stand looks like and how it’s used.
Parts List
Description
1“ x 1” x 11” steel tubing
1“ x 1” x 26” steel tubing
5
/
16
” nut
5
/
16
” NC x 1
1
/
2
” long bolt
5
/
16
” x 3” rod
3
/
4
” dia. x 22” long CRS
1
/
8
” x 1
3
/
4
” flat bar
1
3
/
4
” x
1
/
8
” angle bar
Flat bar
1
/
2
” NC nuts
Qty
Item
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
4
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
1
2
Light
AH-64D…
Hold Up the
Light
Worm’s eye view
hold it right
there while
I change the
wires.
hurry!
this is
a tough
position
to be in!
Side
view
Top
view
10
2
1
4
3
6
6
3
4
5
9
7
8
26”
13
3
/
8
”
1
3
/
4
”
11”
23”
5
3
/
4
”
675.36-37.indd
1-2
12/18/08
1:24:51 PM
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