I was told that the weather in Montana was pretty variable, but today it seemed our crew got hit with everything but a tornado. Despite that and other frustrations, much was accomplished and we are still on schedule to be home early next week.
The Scorpion was waiting for us this morning, and so was the brewing storm.
After a good night's sleep, Einar and Hal made short work of removing the bolt and removing the lower rudder. 
The weather rapidly deteriorated, going from sleet to freezing rain to snow and ice pellets.
It was a good time to get everyone off the wing and working on the pylons.
They were the first frustration of the day, needing a bit of "persuasion" to come off.
Ok, they needed a lot of (carefully applied) persuasion.
But eventually fishermen Einar and Lyle hauled in a beauty, a Douglas AIR-2 Genie missile pylon.
With the rudder removed and the weather turning absolutely beautiful, Hal and Einar were able to get to work removing the horizontal stabilizer/elevator assembly.
Not everyone was able to appreciate the sunshine and blistering 40 degree heat. Running the man-lift with two of his crew high off the ground made for a long afternoon for JR.
The stab and elevators were eventually removed, and we all breathed a sigh of relief. The most hazardous part of the job is over.
The final step for the day was the removal of the wingtip fuel tanks. They caused some grief for a while, but eventually they too came off.
Einar Kong??
("Goldie, how many times have I told you guys that I don't want no horsing around on the airplane." )
We said good night to the Scorpion, as the next storm began moving in.
Tomorrow will be a lot of detail work in preparation for (hopefully) removing the wings Thursday.
Tomorrow will be a lot of detail work in preparation for (hopefully) removing the wings Thursday.
No comments:
Post a Comment