Quote:
Originally Posted by Buckterrier
(Post 7848840)
Seven pages and there isn't an engineer here that can tell me what they do. Didn't read one post, just sayin'.
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A serious answer, since I happen to think I have quite possibly one of the best jobs in the world (and a challenge to gearya to explain at a similar level what he does...):
I work for Boeing in Everett, WA. I am in a very small group known in the industry as "AOG" - Aircraft on Ground. Our AOG team has about 200 people on it, from mechanics to planners to engineers, covering every discipline required to get a disabled ("on ground") aircraft back in service. We travel the world providing on-site support for our customers and their Boeing widebody aircraft.
On this team, there are only two of us (but we are training two more) that do the kind of work I do. I design the tooling and equipment we use in the field on 747, 767, 777, and now 787 aircraft. The stuff I design is used to repair aircraft damaged in service, or it is used to affect what we call "service bulletin" work that can be anything from warranty repairs to upgrading aircraft components to enhanced reliability, service life, or whatever.
This stuff I design includes simple overhead handling equipment ("below the hook" stuff) like spreader bars and slings for removing various bits of the airplane (like control surfaces and such, up to and including the entire empennage - vertical fin, horizontal stab, and the body aft of the pressure bulkhead). We even take the bulkhead out and replace it at times (The Discovery Channel showed our team doing this in France. I wasn't on that trip, but they were using my tools and equipment). Other handling and lifting equipment can get a bit more complex, for example that used for the removal of engines, landing gear, and the like - we actually hang that equipment from the aircraft itself, utilizing local bits of structure to hang it from.
Of course we have to put it all back together again as well, and I design the tooling needed to re-locate those original parts that are not what we call "determinate assembly", or to locate the new, replacement parts. This is not like working on your Porsche - nothing just bolts together - it's all jig located and mounting holes drilled (or at least finish sized) on assembly.
Our other big hitter is portable machining equipment. This includes boring fixtures used to renew anything from landing gear pivot bushings to engine strut mounting bushings, to name just two typical jobs. These are all bored in place on the aircraft and on the component (that has been removed) being refurbished. When done, the two obviously have to go back together - gear on its trunnion pins, struts on their pins, etc. These are typically not final bored or honed at assembly, so these operations demand a great deal of precision to ensure final fit. There are, of course, a myriad of other precision boring and drilling operations we must perform in the field - cargo door hinges and latches are an example that comes to mind. Beyond that, there is a good deal of what we call "sheet metal" work, much of it requiring a good deal of tooling for drilling operations, locating components, etc.
As I mentioned earlier, our team that works out of Everett. When our mechanics are doing the work, we can travel with anywhere from two or three to fifty or more. It's my job on those trips to help the mechanics use and understand our tools and equipment, troubleshoot it when necessary, and provide in-field modifications, "work arounds", repairs, or whatever it takes to get the job done. I also provide jacking and shoring expertise, and monitor loads on all of that. It's my job to jack and shore it back to straight, if for some reason it's not (we use known points on the airframe and surveyor type optical equipment to verify).
In addition to traveling with our team, I also travel in support of our customers when they elect to have their own mechanics (or an MRO - Maintenance/Repair Operation) perform the modification or repair. Here I simply provide technical support - finger pointing and arrogant opinions on how whatever it is should be done.
In addition to myself and the other guy who actually designs this stuff, we have four other guys in our Tool Engineering group who do nothing but travel. The other guy who designs does not travel - I'm the only guy who does both, but I do spend a good deal more time at my desk than on the road. I average maybe three months on the road in any given year, and certainly not all at the same time. Like I said above, we have two more we are training, and they will do both.
Needless to say, our work is what one might call fairly "high profile", at least with our customers. They get very, very excited when they have a $150M machine grounded, not making them any money. AOG is one of the most difficult groups to make it in at the Boeing Co. Everybody is "graded" on every trip, and no one gets to rest on their laurels, no matter who you are or what you've done in the past.
I did this early in my career, until domestic life intervened (then I went to designing mold dies and such to form interior parts for awhile), but now I've been back in AOG for the last ten years. I love it. Every day is different, and we never know what's next... Oh, and in doing so, we employ far more common sense and observation than "scientific principle". You get a big red "F". ;)
