PS Magazine - TB 43-PS-717
PS, The Preventative Maintenance Monthly
ISSUE 717
AUGUST 2012
24
PS 717
AUG 12
25
PS 717
AUG 12
M
aintenance on your Chinook shouldn’t be approached lightly, mechanics. Careless
maintenance will almost always end with damage to your aircraft and injury to you.
Use of the engine stand provides a case in point. The first step to using the stand is to
hook up both struts to the airframe so the stand can support your weight while you work
on the engine.
If only one strut gets hooked up, you’re gambling that nothing will happen while you
stand on it.
Also, make sure both quick-release pins are fully inserted. If they aren’t, they can come
loose while you are standing on the work platform. Then the platform becomes unsteady
when you stand on it. It can either fold closed or pivot outward causing you to fall off the
platform. Either way causes injury to you and damage to the aircraft.
The engine stand may look strong, but it still needs both struts and fully inserted quick-
release pins. Keep that in mind before you say, “It’ll hold me.”
C
rew chiefs, when Black Hawks land in dust or desert sand, the stuff goes
everywhere inside the aircraft.
Sand and dust can build up in the tracks and holes on the UH-60M gunner’s and
medical attendant’s seat pallets on the HH-60M. So, after landing your bird, your
seat tracks will need some attention.
Yes, that means you have to break out a
brush and vacuum’s crevice tool to get the
sand out of the seat tracks. If you don’t, the
tracks clog up with gunk. Then the seats
will get stuck and you won’t be able to
move them in the tracks.
Once you get the sand out of the tracks,
have one of your buddies sit in the seat and
try to move it to ensure it slides. You may
need to give him a little push to work the
seat loose if it’s been stuck. Once the seat
slides freely, make sure it latches properly,
then double check the track and its holes
for any more sand or debris that may have
worked loose.
CH-47D/F.…
Hook
up the
Struts
UH/HH-60M…
Sand In The Seat Tracks
Never
stand on engine stand
with only one strut hooked up
Properly secured engine
stand supports weight
I
told
you that
you needed
to hOok
up
both
struts!
why
won’t
this seat
budge?
because after
your trips through
the desert
we’ve
multiplied and you
never cleaned us out!
Clean out dust and sand from seat tracks
717 24-25.indd
1-2
6/22/12
11:48 AM
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