The Flying Spanner: the Story of the Life of an Aircraft Engineer

This book has been written by an aircraft engineer to give you an insight into his sixty years as a maintenance man, inspecting, rectifying, and certifying many types of aircraft all over the world, and as a Licensed Engineer for forty-four years. The book takes you through his five years in the Royal Air Force, as an engine mechanic on Merlin engines as fitted to the Avro Lincoln. During his service he saw action in Egypt (Canal Zone) also in Kenya during the Mau Mau uprising. For these he received two campaign medals. Then into civilian life, working with some of the major companies in the UK but mainly with the freight airlines, one being Air Charter of London (a Freddie Laker company), which included an airline as well as aircraft maintenance. He was engaged on a prototype twin-engined small airliner, The Accountant (not too successful). From there to an engine fitter on DC4, Bristol 170, Avro Tudor aircraft, and many more. He was also a 'flying spanner' on the DC4s flying between Southend airport in England and Adelaide in Australia, still working for Laker. The author gained his aircraft maintenance licence in 1967, which is still valid as of 2012. Over the years he has been involved with innumerable aircraft, from the very small to the very large, including the Russian-built Antonov AN 124, Boeing B17 Flying Fortress, Spitfire, and P51 Mustang. His work has taken him all over the world including North and South America, Australia, Russia, Africa, and the Far East, as a fixer of unserviceable aircraft, and also as engineering auditor mainly for oil companies involved in the oil spill control world. Over the last thirty years he has been the chief engineer on the only airworthy B17 flying outside the United States, in addition to maintaining many War Birds during that time.