i made a pilot feel like a total ass today at work. now, that's not something i'd normally brag about but read on and you'll understand why i'm happy.
we had a CRJ-200 come in today and the APU was inop. the crew knew about it but neglected to tell anyone. well there are only two gates of ours that are equiped with AC powerpacks. of those two, i knew that one definately works. of course, that's not the one this a/c was about to park at. of course, we had to have the crew taxi it over to another gate, not so easy with 2 other airplanes moving about in the same alley. once we get him at the right gate and get the power plugged in i make my way to the cockpit to ask the crew to please, next time call us in advance so that we can set up for them on the ground and not have to scramble at the last minute. i didn't even get to finish before i was met with an attitude from the captain. he told me "i know how to do my job and don't need to be reminded by you." fine and dandy, i walked off the plane and went to find out airstarter(1). maintenence came over to see if they could fix the APU but ended up MEL-ing it until they got back to thier own maintenence base.
during the turnaround i was talking to another pilot i knew who was deadheading on the flight out and told him of the situation. he spoke with the captain later on and told him that pissing off the ramp staff is normally something to be avoided. we own that airplane when it's at our gates. anyhow, when everyopne was boarded up and the crew was ready to start the engines i was standing near the nose and had my headset plugged in. i asked the crew if they were ready and found out that they had to consult the manual to find out how to do an airstart on that airplane. i just went upstairs, flipped on the external air switch and pulled the igniter. when N1(2) reached 20% i flipped on the fuel flow switch and watched the IGT(3) rise to the point where the engines was secured and running. i let go of the switched and walked out, telling the crew they're ready to go. the FO was practically rolling on the floor as were the 2 mechanics that were standing outside. i felt like telling them that i know how to do my job too, but didn't want to get into more trouble.
(1) big motorized air pump that blows air into the engine to spin it up to speed in order to start, just like bleed air from an APU.
(2) the first turbine stage in the engine, the first to spin and begin sucking in air for compression and ignition in the engine.
(3) internal gas temputature, temp inside the ignition stage that will let you know when the engines is running. also, the N1 finally settles and stabilizes after peaking immediately following ignition in the engine.
i'm such an ass... :lol:
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