Appreciation post: the old timer who saved me on a 737 brake job

I was stuck on a 737 in Atlanta last spring, couldn't get the brake pack to seat right. An old mechanic named Ray walked over, said "you're fighting the alignment pin, son." He showed me to tap it at a 45 degree angle with a brass drift. That one tip saved me two hours of frustration. Anybody else got a senior mechanic who dropped some wisdom on them?

2 comments

2 Comments

king.stella1mo ago

You're fighting the alignment pin, son." Yeah. That's the kind of advice you only get after you've spent an hour cussing at a brake pack like it personally owes you money. Had a guy named "Lucky" at Delta in Detroit show me how to hold a wrench at a weird angle so my hand didn't get crushed. He said "bone breaks slower than steel does." Thanks for that comforting mental image, Lucky. Old timers always make it sound so simple, like I'm the idiot who can't figure out basic physics. But then you try their stupid tip and it works perfectly. Now I just picture them laughing at all of us from some hangar in the sky.

the_nina1mo ago

Three hangars in and I still think you're missing the point. Those old timers aren't laughing at you, they're laughing because they remember being exactly where you are now, bleeding knuckles and all. Lucky gave you real advice that probably saved you a few broken bones, and you're mad that he didn't say it with a smile and a warm hug? Come on. You'd still be fighting that pin if he hadn't piped up, and you know it. The secret is that the "stupid tips" only sound stupid until you've been there long enough to see them work a hundred times over.