Quote:
Originally Posted by Seahawk
Jeff,
I know you aren't there, don't have the exact specifics, but where would you start? This stuff really interests me. There is nothing more I enjoyed than figuring out maintenance issues and then going to fly the formerly downed aircraft.
I am assuming (ass out of you and me) that yo make the plane as light as possible (defuel/cargo out/interior out, etc.) and then try and lift the rear, put stuff under the plane, lift again, remove engines, more stuff under the plane then...what!?!
I am assuming the gear is gone. Starboard engine is buried as well.
"Stuff", btw, is a proprietary substance I just created.
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We would not allow personnel to enter that aircraft, so any disassembly to lighten it would be out. We would sure like to de-fuel it, but it would be very difficult to do so in that position. The fuel, at its allowable landing weight, is probably low enough to be below all of the drains with it in that attitude.
Boy, a real head-scratcher here. We would probably start by engaging local civil engineers to let us know what we are dealing with as far as the ground underneath it. How stable is it? What kind of equipment can we put on it? How much additional load can we apply to that equipment without winding up in the drink? How close can we get on the flat ground above, and what kind of loads can we put on it? How about the tarmac - can we anchor into it to hold down some kind of cantilevered apparatus to lift and drag it? Stuff like that.
Once we have an idea from them as to where we can lift and drag from, we engage our structures and stress guys. We have designated lifting and jacking points, but they are meant to take vertical loads on a more or less level aircraft. Once we apply loads to them at what appears to be 45 degrees or more off vertical, we have to ask our stress guys just what we can do.
Once we have that information, it becomes my job to figure out how to fill the gap between where we can put what kind of equipment and where we can grab the aircraft. That might entail some manner of overhead basket sling arrangement, some shoring from below, a combination of the two, or who knows. If you just "can't get there from here", they might have to drag it down to the water and onto a barge.
This would be a fun one. This is the kind of stuff I miss. We can get really creative on this kind of recovery.