Photo By Senior Chief Petty Officer Ryan Wilber | Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 74's Crane Crew assist the...... read more read more
ROTA, Spain - The Crane Crew of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 74 assisted Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron (VQ) 2 with an engine swap when a routine 600-hour maintenance check uncovered a damaged turbine, Jan. 5.
According to Petty Officer 1st Class Allen Peter, a Naval aircrewman avionics, swapping engines on the P-3 Orion is routine maintenance and the aircrew often does the work themselves, but on this occasion the required equipment was not readily available. Without the Seabees crane on hand, the support equipment would have to be flown or shipped to the airfield.
The crane crew took nothing for granted when preparing for the lift. According to Petty Officer 3rd Class John Connell, an equipment operator and crane operator, for him a slow lift is more difficult than a straight pick-and-carry, so the team rehearsed the day before simulating zero clearance. The team was fortunate to discover a six-inch clearance when they arrived onsite.
“While removing and inserting that engine, it had to be put in level. With only six inches on the top and the bottom of it, we had to move extremely slow to get that out without damaging anything on the aircraft or the engine itself,” said Connell. “It wasn’t the easiest lift we’ve done by any means, but the dry run helped out a lot.”
Safety is always paramount for 74’s crane crew. Before any work could be done the “safety envelope” was established and Petty Officer 2nd Class Jason Swart, an equipment operator, delivered the safety brief to both crews. Once briefed, the two teams went to work as one to accomplish the lift without incident.
“They’ve [the crane crew] been really hands on with both what we’re doing on the aircraft and how they’re operating the crane. With the Seabees, it was safety first. We’re taking our time making sure we do it the right way by the book,” said Peter.
That type of lift may be routine work for VQ-2’s maintenance crew and the engine’s weight did not tax the crane’s nearly 14,000-pound load limit, but according to Petty Officer 2nd Class Hector Alvarado, a construction mechanic, the lift was anything but routine for the crane crew.
“To them it was like a common thing to just take an engine off and put it back on. For us it was a complex lift, because of the way we had to do it,” said Alvarado.
Peter expressed his gratitude for saving his squadron three days ground time, and this being his first interaction with Seabees, would gladly work with them again.
| Date Taken: | 01.05.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 01.27.2011 03:38 |
| Story ID: | 64293 |
| Location: | ROTA, ES |
| Web Views: | 95 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, NMCB 74 Crane Crew Assists with Engine Swap, by SCPO Ryan Wilber, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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