Volume 48, No. 20, November 2, 2006
 |
|
ON SHOW: CPL Andrew Crapp with his award.
Photo by LACW Alice Gardiner |
By Andrew Stackpool
CORPORAL Andrew Crapp from 1SQN came to work on some equipment, saw a problem and called in the cavalry.
His quick-thinking prevented a potential failure with potentially catastrophic results in three
F-111s.
His actions were acknowledged when Commander Air Combat Wing AIRCDRE Geoff Brown awarded him a Good Show Award at the recent annual associations’ day at RAAF Base Amberley.
On May 5, CPL Crapp was working on the horizontal tail stabilisation activation system on an F-111 when he noticed a problem.
“A hydraulic actuator had been replaced as a part of scheduled maintenance before the aircraft was to be deployed on exercise,” CPL Crapp said.
“I was looking in the area of the hydraulic actuator before refitting access panels, when I noticed that one of the pistol fitting bushings looked to have rotated 180 degrees out of position.”
The inboard pistol fitting bushes on the starboard side had rotated 180 degrees. He checked the bushes on the port side and discovered that they, too, had rotated.
“I did a quick check of another aircraft, for comparison, and it also looked similarly out of position. I then called the metal machinists, who fit the bushings, to confirm the bushings had rotated.”
Subsequent checks on all squadron F-111s revealed bush rotations on two more aircraft.
A subsequent engineering review found that the rotations were critical.
“As the pistol fitting is a primary structural member, the continued rotation of the bushing would have caused damage to it,” CPL Crapp explained.
“The potential continued damage to the pistol fitting may have caused it to become unrepairable.”
