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<blockquote data-quote="El Mahdi" data-source="post: 5534727" data-attributes="member: 59506">Then here's one you probably haven't heard...<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink&nbsp; &nbsp; ;)"&nbsp; data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />&nbsp;A common redball discrepency on KC-135's is &quot;Autopilot won't engage&quot;.&nbsp;&nbsp; (A &quot;redball&quot; in aircraft maintenance is a discrepency found during the crews preflight checklist, in the hour or so before take-off.) It's not that the aircraft can't fly without an autopilot, it's just that pilots consider it crucial for endurance missions (like Chuck Yeager ever needed an autopilot...<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue&nbsp; &nbsp; :p"&nbsp; data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":p" />).&nbsp;Anyways, the autopilot has a safety feature where it won't engage if the flight controllers turn knob is out of detent (the flight controller is a small unit on the aft end of the center console, between the pilot and copilot seats, that has a pitch knob and a turn knob for steering the autopilot).&nbsp; If it didn't have this safety feature, the aircraft could go into a sudden turn or roll if it engaged with the turn knob not centered (this could be what we'd call Bad).&nbsp; Of course, it's something pilots rarely look for themselves (though it would take all of a 1/2 second, and should probably be something they should already look for as they're the ones that have to use it inflight...).&nbsp; But, rather than spend a couple of seconds figuring out what they did wrong, they automatically assume something must be wrong with the aircraft, and then tell the crew chief they need avionics to take a look.&nbsp;So, up the crew ladder I climb, push open the hatch, step up into the cockpit, and immediately look at the flight controller to see where the turn knob is.&nbsp; 9 times out of 10, it's not in detent.&nbsp; Swear to god, I'd get this exact writeup at least a couple of times a week.&nbsp; Tired of telling pilots yet again that they screwed up, I would instead kneel down on the floor between the seats (just aft of the center console) look up at the autopilot control panel on the upper panel while turning the turn knob back to detent with my hand (unseen to the crew), wave my other hand over the control panel while saying &quot;Abra Cadabra&quot;, and then engage the autopilot without any apparent problem.&nbsp; Some crews would just look at me funny and I'd leave the wondering, just give them a &quot;have a good flight&quot; and head back down the ladder.&nbsp; Others would ask what I did (and I'd tell them about the turn knob).&nbsp; It still didn't get aircrews to remember this every time, but at least I got a little fun out of it.&nbsp;<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin&nbsp; &nbsp; :D"&nbsp; data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /></blockquote>

[QUOTE="El Mahdi, post: 5534727, member: 59506"] Then here's one you probably haven't heard...;) A common redball discrepency on KC-135's is "Autopilot won't engage". (A "redball" in aircraft maintenance is a discrepency found during the crews preflight checklist, in the hour or so before take-off.) It's not that the aircraft can't fly without an autopilot, it's just that pilots consider it crucial for endurance missions (like Chuck Yeager ever needed an autopilot...:p). Anyways, the autopilot has a safety feature where it won't engage if the flight controllers turn knob is out of detent (the flight controller is a small unit on the aft end of the center console, between the pilot and copilot seats, that has a pitch knob and a turn knob for steering the autopilot). If it didn't have this safety feature, the aircraft could go into a sudden turn or roll if it engaged with the turn knob not centered (this could be what we'd call [I]Bad[/I]). Of course, it's something pilots rarely look for themselves (though it would take all of a 1/2 second, and should probably be something they should already look for as they're the ones that have to use it inflight...). But, rather than spend a couple of seconds figuring out what they did wrong, they automatically assume something must be wrong with the aircraft, and then tell the crew chief they need avionics to take a look. So, up the crew ladder I climb, push open the hatch, step up into the cockpit, and immediately look at the flight controller to see where the turn knob is. 9 times out of 10, it's not in detent. Swear to god, I'd get this exact writeup at least a couple of times a week. Tired of telling pilots yet again that they screwed up, I would instead kneel down on the floor between the seats (just aft of the center console) look up at the autopilot control panel on the upper panel while turning the turn knob back to detent with my hand (unseen to the crew), wave my other hand over the control panel while saying "Abra Cadabra", and then engage the autopilot without any apparent problem. Some crews would just look at me funny and I'd leave the wondering, just give them a "have a good flight" and head back down the ladder. Others would ask what I did (and I'd tell them about the turn knob). It still didn't get aircrews to remember this every time, but at least I got a little fun out of it. :D [/QUOTE]

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