Towards the end of my apprenticeship where I had previously spent 16 months on the "American Fleet" (Boeing 707's & 720's, 747 100's & 200's, DC10-30's), I was transfered to the workshops situated in the centre of what was known as the "Brabazon" hanger (a failed British design, due to the onset of the "Jet-Age"); once we went back to GMT I would not see daylight during working hours - no windows, 4 storeys up, neon lights, all... day...
Worst job for an instrument mechanic (well, nearly the worst - anything to do with "Skydrol" hydraulic fluid would be hard to top; the stuff just eats skin...!) on the fleet was a P&W JT9D oil change... one time, on a stormy winters night, with the engine cowling flapping round my head; snow was coming down thickly and sideways and I was stuck with an oil change... so, what does oil have to do with an instruments engineer...? yes, it's a fluid, therefore a quantity which has to be measured, and the "oilys" didn't do that sort of stuff... I think I had to get 16 quarts of oil in whilst the other engineers calibrated the levels; couldn't use gloves and the cans were sticking to my hand... oh the fun an apprentice could have...
