Flying Trucker wrote:Good afternoon Jet...
The Electra uses the same engines as the C130 Hercules. Both aircraft are manufactured by Lockheed.
If you check out both machines you can see they put the engines on the Electra upside down
Nice shot...
The Allison T56 engine was originally designed specifically for the C-130 and it was flipped upside down on the P-3 for ground clearance reasons.
The T56 is also used on the E-2 Hawkeye and the C-2 Greyhound aircraft. During my career in the U.S. Navy I spent roughly 10 years working on the
earlier version T56-A-10W on P-3A's and the later version T56-A-425 on the early E-2C's and C-2A aircraft. On the P-3's I, as an Aviation Electrician (AE), worked
many hours with the engine mechs servicing those -10W's but 3 years later when I was transferred to work on the E-2's I was amazed at how more dependable
the -425's were. Quite frankly in a P-3 squadron (VP) the engine mechs are a hard working crew but in the E-2C's they were semi unemployed.
Most of their work assignments were just routine scheduled maintenance.
A funny side note...Shortly after I was assigned to my first E-2C squadron we had an engine crap out and needed to be replaced. A typical engine change scenario.
Myself, as an electrician was sent down to help with the engine change. Basically I just had to disconnect the prop harness (because the prop gets pulled separately and
reinstalled on the new engine) and then disconnect the engine firewall connectors. Well in my old P-3 squadron it was common practice for the assigned Aviation Electrician
(trivia: slang term for AE = "One Wire" ) to help pull the prop and drop the engine. So I did that just as before. When we finished I went back to my shop for my next job assignment
and thought nothing more about it. The next day I was told to report to the squadron Maintenance Officer. I had no idea what I screwed up but it must have been pretty bad
for the M.O. to want to see me. When I reported he thanked me for my "Can Do" spirit and willingness to help the engine mechs get the job done. I was dumbfounded to say the least
and a little embarrassed. I replied "Don't the AE's do that here? In my last squadron we were expected to help." He replied "No they never have."
Awkward situation now commencing!!!
Posted: Thu May 17, 2018 9:48 am
