I worked on a flight deck for two cruises. Planes operating off flight decks had racks that radio and navigation equipment slid into. There were wingnuts that held them in place in the racks. Those wingnuts had a small hole drilled in them and the rack had a small hole drilled in it. We would tighten the wingnut and then cut a piece of safety wire (see below) to loop through both holes. Then using the pliers (above) we would lock down both ends and pull on the the knurled knob on the pliers to twist the safety wire and lock down the equipment. It was essential to do so because the vibrations on a plane could loosen the wingnuts and have equipment slide out from those racks. The safety wire kept that from happening.
When a plane lands on an aircraft carrier and catches an arresting wire it goes from approximately 184 mph to 0 in about 200 feet. Physics dictates that an object in motion tends to stay in motion, so if there is something in the plane that is not anchored down it does not stop. Pilots hate having something whizzing past their heads at 184 mph. It just plain distresses them and makes them quite angry.
Another thing that happens with safety wire and other debris that finds its way to a flight deck is the fact that jet engines suck in copious amounts of air, like a vacuum cleaner does from the floors at home, and jet engines can fail because of debris sucked into an engine. So every day we would be up on the flight deck shoulder to shoulder and walk the 1000 foot long flight deck searching for any foreign objects that could damage or cripple a jet engine.
Now to the point, there are always some people around us who are always angry, no matter what happens. Back in my flight deck days we used to call those men "safety wired in the pissed-off position." And now you know the rest of the story.
Copyright Bill Weber 2006-2019 and beyond.
Another thing that happens with safety wire and other debris that finds its way to a flight deck is the fact that jet engines suck in copious amounts of air, like a vacuum cleaner does from the floors at home, and jet engines can fail because of debris sucked into an engine. So every day we would be up on the flight deck shoulder to shoulder and walk the 1000 foot long flight deck searching for any foreign objects that could damage or cripple a jet engine.
Now to the point, there are always some people around us who are always angry, no matter what happens. Back in my flight deck days we used to call those men "safety wired in the pissed-off position." And now you know the rest of the story.
Copyright Bill Weber 2006-2019 and beyond.
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