Not sure if this is the proper place for this, but here goes.

When I was in college, I worked a summer as a ramp rat for a local flying service. Late one afternoon, a local came in and parked on the far side of the ramp in his Push Pull (337). He came in the office and asked me to top him off. I guess he was in a hurry or just did not want to get caught in the weather that was moving in fast from the northwest. I got in the tender and drove across to where he parked. I did not want to get caught in the weather either so I was in a hurry and made a really bad mistake. I failed to hook the static line to the nose gear. I was up on the wing with the nozzle locked wide open when lightning struck off the end of the runway. I felt some static in the nozzle and almost fell off the wing. Fortunately, the nozzle did not come out and I did not spill a drop. More fortunately, there was no ignition/fire/explosion/death. I grabbed the rubber part of the hose and finished as quickly as I could, got down and put the tender up. I vowed never to fuel another aircraft without the static line attached and to try to avoid using the tender at all costs. Guess someone was looking out for me that day.

Brett_Henderson wrote on Mar 23^rd, 2009 at 7:41pm:


Yes, I am aware of this. I just meant that the lightning emphasized to me how stupid I was for failing to hook the static line. But thanks. I hope this make others more safety conscious.

I also had a part time job doing janitorial work to the inside of a Martin 404 for Southern Airways. It was a terminal flight here and had to be cleaned before departing the next morning. I had to do it between 10:30 p.m. and 6 a.m. It did not take long as it only involved emptying the trash, vaccuming, putting up pillows and straightening the magazine rack. And it was six nights, Sunday through Friday. But I was also playing in a band and we had jobs on the weekends. Plus I was teaching guitar one night a week. I was a little bit busy that summer. But oh the money for a nineteen year old.

The Ruptured Duck wrote on Mar 23^rd, 2009 at 11:29pm:


The lightning did not start until I was on the wing. But it was because I was told to do it, and I was STUPID!  
Never heard a B-25 called a lightning rod before. LOL  

DaveSims wrote on Mar 24^th, 2009 at 9:57am:

Would this have been true in the summer of 1968?

Quote:


This I was aware of. Like I said, it was a stupid mistake due to haste and lack of knowledge about the rules. It was just a summer job and they did not tell me much. Had to learn most of it the hard way. And all I did was fuel, wash, change oil, tow, and cut the grass.

The Ruptured Duck wrote on Mar 24^th, 2009 at 8:18pm:


Not just the FAA/CAA, but the RAF too and I would have though the USAF also. As a side line, the other week we had a power cut in our hanger just as we towed a B738 in. A long coffee break ensued, but only after I grounded the aircraft. I observed something that I had never seen in well over 20 years in the business. I was dark, very dark, armpit dark and as I connected the bonding cable to the earth point in the main gear bay, I saw for the first time how much static there can be in an aircraft. As I fumbled with the jack plug in the dark drying to find the whole, the jack made contact with the aircraft and I got a light show. It was almost like the small sparks you get if you short out a 9 volt battery that is not fully charged, but every shade of blue. I stopped what I was doing and called over the guys I was working with and such was the charge in the aircraft that I was able to show them again with the same display and got 10 seconds worth of discharge display. It certainly reinforced my respect for aircraft bonding especially during refueling.

Matt