Simulators that got a bath

[fakeplanefixer]

I have worked on several simulators that have gotten a bath on account of mother nature.

In a typhoon at Clark AFB in the Philippines the roof was blown off the simulator shop over the F4G simulator. It took a week to dry it out.

During transport of the C141 OFT from Travis to Mcchord the tarp that was covering the simulator was ripped and the cockpit was drinched.

While working at the McChore C-141 shop the facilities people decided to replace the roof. Found out it takes about 5 gallons of water to cause a ceiling tile to fail. Makes a mess like oatmeal all over the place when it lands. Had tarps hung from the ceiling to catch water for a month.

At the Boeing facility in Longacres the water mains on the top floor broke during an earthquake. The FFS sim computer rooms and hydraulic rooms were flooded. Plus several electronic cabinets were toppled. Took a few days to recover once we got back into the building.

[kean]

I was stationed in Okinawa during the middle 70's. Every time a typhoon came through it would blow water thought the A/C system on the roof. Water would run down thought all the servos and amplifiers in the racks on the RF-4C sim there.

[bluesman]

McGuire AFB, C141
During sim installation in the cold winter our test director looked down the hallway and noticed a waterfall at the end of the hall.
We jumped on it, squeeging and brooming this water out the side door and keeping it from flooding the computer room.
A fire system water pipe had burst in the ceiling due to the cold weather.
It was an interesting ice formation going down the grass outside the door.

Same building later in the spring:
Rain would flood the hydraulic room trenches and we had to suck the water out with a shop vac. I was busy filling up the vac and, when it was full, I shut it off only to watch it drain out the bottom of the vac. There was a hole in the bottom and the suction kept it in the bucket until it was turned off. What a laugh.

Same building, same time:
A roof leak precisely over the sim mirror enclosure nicely deposited acid rain and other minerals on the mylar. That was my first experience cleaning a WIDE mirror. We could not get the stain out completely and probably to this day that mirro has a stain from that (unless someone busted it). Last I heard, that sim was in Burlington, NJ.

Travis AFB, C141 installation:
Upon conclusion of flushing the hydraulics, one hydraulic fitter closed the return valve whilst another was busy closing the flushing valves. When the last valve was closed, the pressure popped the return hose off the manifold and sprayed the bottom of the sim with what fluid was left in that part of the hose. When fitter number one realized it was because the return valve was closed, he ran into the pump room and opened the valve (not thinking clearly) and commenced to draining the reservoir into the trench. By the time he realized what was happening, 4.5 barrels of oil were in the trench.
Now me an my partner was in the computer room doing wire mods with the floor tiles up. By the time I mentioned "you smeel that smell, it smells like hydraulic fluid", fitter #1 bust in and said "can you guys give us a hand".
Now that was not funny.

[JimLahey]

McGuire AFB, KC10A
The Tech I Rookie Move!
Trying to impress my Tech III's they had asked me to replace a linear pot for ailerons. I was so happy that the senior tech's were actually letting replace and rig it by myself... well atleast the replace part... we never got to the rig part. Suspense Builds......

Walking tall out to the bay I had been clouded and only thinking about the the task at hand. Well my dumbass forgot to think about the fire suppresion lines and sprinkler heads underneath the sim.... and my size 13 kicks off the sprinkler head and water comes shooting out everywhere from a fire line that was supposed to be uncharged. I dive onto this thing like a grenade is going to go off and I have to save my platoon. The water at this point has soaked me from head to toe and I am all alone in the bay. I start yelling HELP! They come out..... not laughing but oh you screwed up pal look on their face. I stick my thumb in the hole where the wonderful sprinkler head once resided and plugged the leak... God knows how much water pressure there was, because my thumb turned blue. A half hour later they finally found the water shutoff valve and I was saved. I began cleanup and the Tech III replaced the pot.

I do know one thing, I saved the mirror and the electronics from the water. Note to self "take your time you dumb spazz, it's only simulation!" I later earned their confidence back, of course I know they had reservations at times.

Thank you to that Tech III and II that helped me out, and probably saved my job. I no longer work there, but it is a job I miss. It is something I look back on and laugh about, but could have been a crippling move to training if the damage had spread.

[bluesman]

Those deluge systems were such a stupid "govenment" idea. The thought that spraying gallons of water on electronic, mechanical and hydraulic to save it, I never understood. In my 25 years of simulator experience I've never even "heard" of a simulator catching on fire. I've even installed fire barrier material in trenches between the computer room, and pump room. One thing that did (this was at Travis AFB) was made a nice water/air tight seal between those rooms. Not even rats could get through.
Maybe that's what it was for anyway and the government bunch thought that was a way to do it. Think "Operation Petticoat" where Tony Curtis needed to order toilet paper , but the gov impeded him so he ordered special chinese typing paper with certain specifications.

[JimLahey]

LOL Bluesman! Sounds like you know that system well. It definitely is not maintenance friendly. I made a conserted effort to watch my step after that.

[The Pirate]

Those deluge systems were such a stupid "govenment" idea. The thought that spraying gallons of water on electronic, mechanical and hydraulic to save it, I never understood. In my 25 years of simulator experience I've never even "heard" of a simulator catching on fire. I've even installed fire barrier material in trenches between the computer room, and pump room. One thing that did (this was at Travis AFB) was made a nice water/air tight seal between those rooms. Not even rats could get through.
Maybe that's what it was for anyway and the government bunch thought that was a way to do it. Think "Operation Petticoat" where Tony Curtis needed to order toilet paper , but the gov impeded him so he ordered special chinese typing paper with certain specifications.

when we had to get an annual re-inspect from miami-dade fire marshall, the inspector wanted to know why we didn't have sprinkler heads UNDERthe motion base's on the FFS sim's!!??!!??!!??screwy: dunce: dunce:

[simengineer]

At little rock air base C130 simulators the government just had a under the trainer and in the trench to the HPU sprinkler system put in. They also have water in the computer room. We have been luck and none of the heads have fired off.

[Knucklehead]

This is for JimLahey, when did you work at McGuire on the KC-10?