Workload vs Manpower

As u are reading this on your comfy cushioned chair, in your cosy home; I, in contrast, would be working, in the hot-like-hell hangar.

Since Malaysia is a multi-racial company, it's our turn (chinese) to work our asses out this week. Selamat Hari Raya to my Malay colleagues, and Happy Deepavali to my Indian colleagues!

This Deepa-Raya week, i'm gonna work from Monday till Friday, and then continue with Saturday & Sunday (depends on speed of job during weekdays).

Work hours? 0745hrs - 1645hrs. But most probably every day must do OT. Latest OT is up till 0400hrs (4am!)

Well, this is the service industry's life. When people go for holidays, our work load increases x1000, and manpower /1000. Aeroplane maintenance due date must be followed strictly, else would cause lots of trouble and loss of money in millions.

Am not complaining though, this is what i chose, so i'm liking it. Furthermore, i'm paid differently this week man! time to get some extra pocket money! hahaha!

Till then, happy holidays to all of u! and happy working week to me! see u guys around. Take care aight?

RM10,000 Toilet Bowl

Believe my words, it really is RM10,000. I dunno why it is so expensive, but an easy explanation to u is, "it's an aircraft component, everything is expensive".

Being an Aircraft Engineer doesnt mean wearing white uniform with epaulettes (the goldern bars on the shoulder), and walking around slowly and smartly in the airport.

As the name implies, the engineer knows everything about the aeroplane from A-Z. Having that said, the 'shit job' is part of our job.


Lavatory

The lavatory can be categorized as one of the highest quality requirement in the aircraft. Meaning, though it's such a small and simple thing, but when it is not functioning, the passengers will screw the airline high & low. ie: 'wahlauu... i pay few thousand ringgit and they cant even get the toilet fixed!?' u get what i mean?


Toilet bowl

This is the RM10k toilet bowl. Made from stainless steel and coated with Teflon on the inner surface, it is exactly like the non-stick pan we used in the kitchen. So, your urine and shit doesnt stick to the wall of the bowl.


Toilet assembly

this whole unit cost +-RM100,000. It's pretty high tech in the sense that there's a build-in computer with a memory for each toilet bowl. it records the number of flushes and records the fault of the toilet bowl, for instance Leakages.


Toilet assembly

whenever u push the flush button, an electric signal will be sent to the flush system, and also to the vacuum system at the same time. If u notice the amount of water used per flush, it's very little. It's only 4.6 ounces, which comes to about 1/4 of a milk glass.


Flush Control Unit (FCU)

this FCU is connected to cockpit, whereby the pilot can identify whether the toilet is functioning or not. Regardless to say, it's the most expensive part of a toilet. say, RM40,000?


Bowlsssssssss

today was my last day working with the sanitary department, have gained my valuable experience and so i'm sharing some behind the scene shots with u. Be prepared for the worst. WARNING: STOP EATING IF U ARE READING THIS


Lau Sai

Once in a blue moon, if the cleaners forgotten to clean it before sending to us for repair, this is what we get. A bowl of shit that has been kept there for a few days, or maybe a week. If u r not a hardy-type of fella, u would puke on the spot.

Normally we gotta disinfect and soak the bowl with a super strong detergent (the turqoise liquid), and every time after work with surgery rubber gloves, we gotta clean our hands with dettol, or else i'll be eating u ppl's shit!

toilet paper

Once in a purple moon, there'll be a piece or two of toilet paper in the bowl when sent to us for servicing. It looks nice on 1 side... till


toilet paper + shit

till.... u flip over and see shit all over it. Again, u will puke on the spot. Notice around the upper ring of the bowl, full of harden urine flakes, gross! but it's part of the job.

So, whoever thought aircraft engineers job is cool, think twice. It doesnt seem as nice as it is. Though quite highly paid, but this is what u need to do.


I love toilet bowls!

We are so used to seeing and touching toilet bowls that it's nothing much to us, we would dare put our head inside the bowl to do inspections and servicing, we would come in close proximity with the bowl, and we would smell a slightly diff smell everytime.


urine stain

By the way, did u know your urine is very corrosive? look at this pic, this is the front part of the inner bowl where our urine normally shoots at. This means the bowl has to be sent for recoating of Teflon.

From the toilet bowl to the 'holding tank'

Lastly, for the ladies. Can u gals do me a BIGGGGGGGGGG favor? Please promise me u will not throw the sanitary pads into the toilet bowls? PLEASE? I BEG U?

The pads are gonna stuck the vacuum system and cause alot or trouble. And in the end, the engineer would be the 1 taking it out u know? not the cleaners, because they dunno why it is stuck.

PLEASEEEEEEE, READ THE SIGNS IN THE LAVATORY! thank you.

Emergency Slide-Raft

Sunday morning rain is falling
Steal some covers share some skin (I like that)
Clouds are shrouding us in moments unforgettable
You twist to fit the mold that I am in (oh)

ahhh beautiful day, Maroon 5's Sunday Morning playing in the background as i start my new entry of the week.

Ever thought how it would feel like being in a fire-drill on an aeroplane? Emergency doors deployed, cabin crews screamin/directing at the top of their voice, babies' crying..... everything in CHAOS.

Since an aeroplane is nothing less than 1 storey high from ground, u would fall to death, or break your bones if u were to jump off. That's where the inflatable emergency slides come to use.

Of course we wouldnt hope for one to be deployed. It would be so much better to walk slowly and gracefully off the main door and into the aerobridge, rather than sliding down and running on the tarmac to be greeted by firemen or SWAT team.


Reservoirs

The slide-raft on every exit door is inflated with compressed gas. And these tanks shown here are used to store the gas. It is made of aluminum allow and wrapped with carbon fibre/fibre glass. It has a life span of 15 years and is colored orange(old) or white with orange band(new).

But why is it called slide-raft? because, it can be used both as a slide and a raft. But not all aeroplanes are fitted with slide-rafts, smaller planes are normally equipped with slide only, because they seldom travel over oceans.


Hydrostatic Test

Every 3 years, these tanks would be removed from the aeroplane to be inspected, discharged, service, and recharged. As usual, aroplane parts are always related to safety, therefore frequent checks need to be done to make sure of its servicability, even though it is in good condition.

After the tanks have been discharged, they will undergo a Hydrostatic Test(HT), whereby the reservoir is pressurized with extremely high pressure in a water jacket to check the expansion of the reservoir. If the expansion is within limit, good. But if the expansion is out of limit, scrap the bottle.

After HT, the bottles are dried with warm air. Then, it is recharged in a cage, as shown in the above pic.


Charging weight

Nitrogen(N2) & Carbon dioxide(CO2) are charged into the bottle with a specific ratio, depending on aeroplane model. As for the high-tech Boeing 777, they even include Helium into the bottle, i dunno why.

So, charging quantity is determined by the weight of the bottle rather than volume/pressure (temperature varies volume & pressure, so it would be inaccurate). Let's say we charge the bottle with CO2 first, so once the digital weighing machine reads the required weight, then we'll continue with N2 charging until the needle on the gauge reaches the green band.

It would take approximately 90-120 minutes just to charge 1 bottle. But when deploying the whole slide-raft, it only takes 6 seconds to discharge.


Slide-raft

This is where the slide-rafts are being tested and check for leakages and servicability. It is humongous. Can be 10-15m long & 4-5m wide. Inflated with so much air to make sure it floats on water.


Test area

This is how the slide looks when it is deflated, just like a baloon. As it is packed into the door assembly, it is nicely folded in a proper manner, just like folding a parachute. Or else, it wouldnt deploy nicely or it might get stuck.

There are 12 doors on a Boeing 747-400, which also means 12 slide-rafts. All these slide-rafts are inflated using 2 reservoirs + ambient air within 6 seconds.


A door full with technology

See the buldge at the bottom of the door? that's where the slide-raft & reservoir is stored. Looks neat, but it can be a life-saver.

By the way, only cabin crews get to simulate jumping off on the slide-raft. I've never tried jumping off the plane on a slide, and there wont be a chance unless if it is a real-case-scenario. It would be too time-consuming and troublesome and expensive to run a fire-drill.

Well, it aint that hard after all, just pull the trigger on the door and u can slide off hahahah! but i wouldnt teach u how, for SAFETY PURPOSES!