The 510 Realm

Greetings from Singapore! YouTube Singapore 777 fire and that's what we are here repairing. No wing tank damage, just secondary structure, and flight control surfaces. Airplanes are tough as hell. The fire makes you think it's way worse than it actually is. Pretty 'straightforward' repair for us. Back Mid October. Crew has been here since Early September. I got here later- Had to take the Wife on a Hawaiian cruise for her 50th.

Just finalized the floor plans for the house and shop. THAT took longer than it should have, but we'll just leave that alone. Shop will have approx 1600 sq ft main floor, and 1200 sq ft of loft/storage above it. Hoping to have a shovel in the dirt before January, but we shall see how long all these processes take- Bank, Contractor, permits, etc....

The 510 and the Z are waiting patiently in the container......

Back to your regularly scheduled programming. Carry on.

So...how does a relatively new plane like the 777 get to the point where an engine goes up like that? News is quick on the dramatic "OMG fire on a plane!" but is pretty poor about following up. I'm always interested in the why.

Shop sounds amazing. My house, not including garage, is 1046sq, so, yeah

Plane is about 10 years old. Engine issue, unrelated to the actual airplane. Remember- airlines don't own the engines. They are leased from GE and Rolls-Royce. I have yet to get a real answer as to what caused the fire, but know that the plane itself worked flawlessly, continuing to fly on one engine, dump fuel, and return. Just like a car, there can be several reasons for a fire- leaking fuel connections, oil leak from a failed part of that system, etc. Just remember- I get on them all the time, and, odds being what they are, I never think about 'what might happen'. Safer than a drive on a sunny day, my friends.

Oh no, I'm not thinking about what might happen. Flying is safe, and if anything this 777 proves it. More just because flying is so safe and you (well, me, you see crazy stuff as a matter of your job) never really see a plane lose an engine like that. Has to be an underlying cause. I like lessons learned.

Bit surprised the response crews were so far out, though.

I was told the fire was caused by a failed fuel-oil heat exchanger. Allowed fuel into the oil system, and it ignited.

Greetings, gentlemen. Been a while....

Projects are still safely tucked away at my buddy's place in the container. Major change in house situation: Got plans finalized, engineering stamped, and loan underway. Sadly (or not), the current market has build costs out of control. It's good if you're the contractor or the sub, or the material supplier, but bad for the guy writing the checks to pay for it. Before my contractor was done bidding out the house ONLY, he called to say something is up, because he was almost $200K over what we had discussed. He said all his cost are 30-40% higher than they should be, and his subs are gouging him as well. The wife and I stepped back, assessed the situation, and casually started looking at what was available that would work for us. Turns out that a house in the same neighborhood that our lot is in dropped onto the market that week. We happened by an open house on Saturday, and the following Monday, they had accepted our (full price) offer. Larger, flat lot, 2300 sq ft house, better view of Mt. Baker, more secluded- dead end of the street is in my view-, perfect spot for a shop, etc....

So, I guess the lesson I am taking away from this experience is that being flexible is something that will ease a lot of the stresses in your life. I would have loved the new house, but if it put me in a position to require me to put off retirement, then how is that better? My attitudes are they same towards any car projects now. It doesn't hurt me that they aren't being touched right now. Someday, they will be. Or, not. They are supposed to be fun, not a source of stress for their lack of progress/completeness.

As Joe Rogan puts it- "We're on a giant spinning ball, racing through our solar system, which is racing through our galaxy, which is racing through the UNIVERSE. That's not enough for you to be amazed?!" For me, it is.

A huge +1 on that!
Congrats on the new home

+1

Sounds like a win.

Excellent! That feeling of stability is great. Looking forward to your shop build, no pressure of course!

Aaaaaaannnnndd spin the world wheel, and where is he now......?

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Not a bad place, really. Weather is nice, never over about 80 deg (What's that, about 25C?), people are very nice, traffic is an organized chaos that people back home could not imagine, and it is the land of the Toyota Corolla. Every conceivable model and year. All the way back to the Mango's. The other main car is the Lada taxi's. They're EVERYWHERE. Of course, they are all pretty beaten, but so is everything else.

I have seen 2 4 door 510 taxi's though! 1 is driving, and 1 is missing the right front wheel, on a side street. I'll have my driver pull in for a pic. Also, a crew cab Datsun 720 pick up (airline support vehicle), and a piston version of an Rx3 (808).

I would love to see what is keeping these together. These folks have a whole different method for mechanicals. But, these old boxes are still going. Cool to see them....

Thanks for the report, that sounds just fascinating.

What took you there this trip...engine fall off...landing gear failure..pilot had indigestion.....

Local Airline managed to bang 2 of their OWN airplane's into each other. I am not here to actually perform the repair. It's a babysitting job for the locals who intend to perform it themselves. Their lack of experience has shown itself, and they have no real idea of what this repair is going to take. It's actually a really complex, critical, difficult job. This is a corporate/government/political/competition move, to gain favor over our competitor for future orders. I am 'hands off', only to assist them with THEIR plan. You can only imagine how hard it is for a guy like me have to NOT touch the airplane.... While they struggle with the simplest of tasks, that I could complete in no time....

The return to service date is 10/10...... Uh, (Channelling Dr. Evil) RRRIIIIIIIIIGGGHHHHHTTT.

Cool. I know how hard it is to stand back sometimes.....

Try working at a Nuclear Plant, HURRY UP!! and wait DOH!!

Well, here we are, 2 weeks past their return to service 'dream' date.... Shocking.

Our being here and seeing the limitations of their abilities has forced them into a quality level that they had no intention of meeting, Originally, there was NO quality assurance personnel to verify very specific, close tolerance hole sizes. Their 'method' of measuring a hole diameter was to show me the drill they used. We are talking about hole sizes with a .002 tolerance range. Their process was totally based on a self inspection and team leader sign off, without ever doing any actual measurement.
They lack in the most basic of airplane skills and processes, and the tooling and cutters they had intended to use were woefully inadequate. I had to put my foot down, to protect the airplane from what I saw was going to happen to it.

The scary part is that this came as a surprise to them. That fact put every repair they have performed prior to this one into question. I can with great confidence say that any repair they've done is not up to the (our) engineering requirements.

Unacceptable.

I will most likely be here until this plane flies.... Thanksgiving is in jeopardy.