plant and C vehicles

[sapper740]

Originally Posted by Richard Farrant

When I started work at REME workshops, I was put in the RE Bay, which suited me down to the ground, having been trained on tractors, hydraulics, etc. There were always dozers, cranes, loading shovels and other Engineers equipment, in for overhaul. You never knew quite what to expect next.

As an Engineer, having a RCEME section nearby suited me just fine also. Many times having a vehicle grounded or a piece of equipment U/S threatened our ability to complete what could be a critical task. Case in point: the nick-name for Canada's eastern most province is "The Rock" and I can tell you first hand that it amply deserves it's name. What little soil mother nature has deposited over the millenia barely covers the immense granite mountain that is Newfoundland. In 1998 I was sent to the old Harmon AFB (ex SAC base) in Stephenville, Newfoundland for a month to support a NATO exercise OP MARCOT. One of our many tasks was to install the MAG (Mobile Arrestor Gear) on the runway as there were to be several Navy aircraft involved in the exercise which if need be, had to be able to put down at the base. Installing each MAG meant pounding in approximately 200 4' long Aluminum (yes, aluminum) stakes with gas powered thumpers we called Punjars. Well, The Rock was going to have something to say about that! About half of the aluminum stakes were bending back on themselves when they hit the airfield ballast about a foot down. Y'see, there was very little soil available when they built the runway so they used what was available...granite chunks that they blasted out of a quarry just to the West of the base. A call went out to CFB Greenwood for steel stakes which arrived in good order. Well, the steel stakes didn't bend, but unfortunately, they didn't do anything else either, like sink into the ground. We were sinking maybe a foot per hour with the little Punjars we were using and the beginning of the exercise was looming. Something much larger was needed so a Skid-steer loader with the much needed hydraulic thumper attachment was located in St. John's. Soon we were back sinking the stakes with the help of the loader although we were now working 18 hours a day to ensure the MAGs would be ready in time for the exercise. Things were going along smoothly when suddenly a loud SNAP was heard...the 2" diameter steel tool-bit had snapped under the unrelenting pounding we and the the Rock were giving it. We looked at it in both amazement and dread...how could something that large snap and where in the heck were we going to get another in the time remaining. It looked like we were fubar'd...our only chance was that maybe the few RCEME guys we had back at Camp Indian Head might be able to help. They didn't have much kit with them in the field, just what they could fit in a couple of MLs but they were our only hope. I jumped into an LSVW and hightailed it back to camp where I showed them the two pieces of bit. It was a worst case scenario as it had broken at an oblique angle which would put the greatest strain on any repair they might be able to do. Undaunted, the RCEME guys went at it with grinders and welders and soon had it back in our hands. We looked at it and it's weld. No way this is going to last, we exclaimed! Well, to make a long story short the weld held and we were able to get the one MAG at the south end of the runway certified. We were rewarded for all our hard work by being able to watch a trap when a CF118 pilot who had never experienced an arrestor gear landing gave it a shot. It's something to see a modern fighter go from 130kts to zero in 400ft. from about 75 feet away. Almost like being on a carrier. The RCEME guys really earned their keep that night and had many rounds bought for them by appreciative Engineers during the smoker at EndEx.

CHIMO! Derek.