I found this in my dad's stuff. It's a 1/4 drive, and the drive lug is spring loaded such that you can pull it out, and rotate it, but it does not have a ratchet function.

It's marked Raytheon Mfg. Co. Part No. 318-1060P1 or possibly PI.

Google Search yielded no results. In fact, I got the ice fishing yeti page.

Does it click or release as torque is applied?

It's a torque handle.

Some are "preset" and others have an adjustable range.

Used them on different aircraft panel fasteners.


They do not "ratchet".

You twist and it "clicks" as a toque wrench does.

Used to carry one in a pouch when I did engine "fan blade inspections" on T-38 on the panel fasteners on the access panel, sine you need really small monkeys to enter the intakes...

I was the "7 level" (like an IA in the civilian sector) inspector on the line.

We flew 200 sorties a day (50 aircraft), that's a lotta clickin'...

I would say Sig Money is right. I bought a very similar tool for torquing breaker screws in an electrical breaker box. Mine only had a 1/4" square drive connector. No big need for that much "heavy dutyness".

quote:

We flew 200 sorties a day (50 aircraft), that's a lotta clickin'...

That might be a bit of an understatement

Thank you, Mr. Monkey! God only knows where dad got it. He never worked on aircraft.

Yes. Electrical panels for the bus screws!
(That is most important for arc prevention)

I have seen screw drivers with that feature, but the "T" handle would be much easier.

Art. If it has a serial number, it is most likely a torque wrench (for PMEL/Calibration tracking)

There is no serial on it. Only the part number I listed.

That's all cleared up,
Now,
Why are they called sorties ?

Is a sortie any time the wheels leave the ground?
Or
If there is a mission designation ?
Or what? Please

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:

Used to carry one in a pouch when I did engine "fan blade inspections" on T-38 on the panel fasteners on the access panel, sine you need really small monkeys to enter the intakes...

“MIG 28’s, NOBODY’s been this close before!”

I don’t know for certain, but I strongly believe that sortie was simply the adoption of the same French word meaning “exit” and from sortir, meaning to “go out” or “leave.”

US and British military terminology contains many words borrowed from French.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
I don’t know for certain, but I strongly believe that sortie was simply the adoption of the same French word meaning “exit” and from sortir, meaning to “go out” or “leave.”

That clicked in my memory. I recall looking up the term during Desert Storm when it was used so much on TV. I think you are correct.


.

The KNOWLEDGE on this forum astounds me at times.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable: Is a sortie any time the wheels leave the ground?
Or
If there is a mission designation ?
Or what? Please

Whether it is an operational flight, training flight, or maintenance flight, every time an airplane leaves the ground it is called a sortie. 200 sorties a day is a very high number of airplanes taking off and landing in one day. That's not to say they're using 200 airplanes to get a high sortie count like that. My guess would be 40 airplanes being used five different times to make a 200-count sortie day.

After each flight, airplanes need a good going over by the plane captain and servicing of hydraulics, oil levels, oxygen tank refills and of course refueling. Doing that 200 times a day is impressive, and for each day of the week requires a huge maintenance effort to coordinate all of that.

Again , thanks

I used to carry one that had a 10mm six point socket on it.

^^
So a purpose-built 10mm socket you had to work at to lose?

USAF a Sortie was anytime one aircraft, all landing gear left the ground after takeoff roll, and all same aircraft gear touched back down on the ground to full stop landing.

Bouncing down the runway does not constitute multiple sorties.

quote:

Originally posted by Tailhook 84:

quote:

Originally posted by bendable: Is a sortie any time the wheels leave the ground?
Or
If there is a mission designation ?
Or what? Please

Whether it is an operational flight, training flight, or maintenance flight, every time an airplane leaves the ground it is called a sortie. 200 sorties a day is a very high number of airplanes taking off and landing in one day. That's not to say they're using 200 airplanes to get a high sortie count like that. My guess would be 40 airplanes being used five different times to make a 200-count sortie day.

After each flight, airplanes need a good going over by the plane captain and servicing of hydraulics, oil levels, oxygen tank refills and of course refueling. Doing that 200 times a day is impressive, and for each day of the week requires a huge maintenance effort to coordinate all of that.

Pretty much it.

We had shortage of manpower (and how I got a "special assignment" to Air Training Command (ATC)from Tactical Air Command (TAC).

The T-38 Squadron was four Flights (100 aircraft total) (Flight is an element/unit of a Squadron) of 25 aircraft each.
Due to the shortage of people, we combined two flights (50 aircraft) and worked two 12 hour shifts, 5 days a week, with weekend duty every every third week.

So effectively had two combined flights, Fox/Golf and Hotel/Juliet.

T38s had a pretty high Mission Capable Rate, and the flying schedule would be 400 sorties, and aircraft lines (1-400) were scheduled about 20-30 minute flights, so aircraft were continually getting crews, starting, taxi out, take off, complete mission profile, land, taxi back, shutdown, crew debrief at the aircraft and maintenance turn the aircraft (if flyable). Out of the 50, we generally had 20 primary aircraft and 5 "Spares" (ready to fly if needed).

This is going on down each row of aircraft (12 aircraft, 4 rows).

We used permeant crews for Launch/Recovery Thru flight Inspection, one person to refuel (first aircraft, hose drag from truck/connect/monitor/disconnect drag to next jet) the truck would drive from one aircraft to the next, and the "hose dragger" would drag the hose until done, then another troop would take over after 2 rows, and the first guy would rotate into the crews launching and recovering.

If an aircraft "broke", it was towed to one of the hangers (Hard Broke), or "maintenance row" (short term fix), a few rows away from the "flying rows".
(Phase Inspection Hanger and the Aero Repair Hanger were also the maintenance hangers) and we continued flying the rotation with the remaining aircraft. Spares were only used if enough aircraft broke and were not returned to service before the condition of more aircrews than flyable aircraft were reached. (With the scheduled interval of takeoff time and mission time, it was not difficult to know "when to burn a spare".)

"Tow Crew" was a week long assignment, and we had deviation of Maintenance granted to have the Tow Driver and a Brake Rider, sufficient to tow, and the Tow Driver was the Tow Supervisor(5 level) and did not have to be at the higher 7 level rate as typical Air Force Reg requires. (Regs Tow Crew is: 1 Tow Qualified Licensed Driver/5 level or higher, 1 Brake Rider/3 level or higher, 1 Tow Supervisor/5 level or higher.) Wing walkers and a tail walker can be anyone qualified, and most of the time, maintenance people could see an aircraft approaching an area needing "walkers" and respond.

We did most all production as an assembly line.

An Expediter had a truck, radio to Job Control, a "Status Board", grease pencils and flight schedule.

I was the Ramp Chief, so I had a lot of walking to do to keep everything running smooth, get almost all Red X (clearing grounding write ups), and inspecting all documented maintenance, including engine inlet inspections before, between, and end of flying.

It was a unique experience, and the squadron was down to about a 1/4 of authorized manpower. So a few people were surprised to find themselves getting last minute reassignment changes (typically you would get your normal assignment notice a six months before you had to report, and orders in hand about 45 days before reporting.

Some guys were expecting to get their orders at that 45 days before reporting to their next assignment and then the orders came down to an ATC base instead.

But, they showed up, whined the first day, and after getting their shit straightened out by the troops that had been doing this for a while, on day two they were pretty much over the crying. Within a week or two, they were on point.

Ironic, that it was very much like being in an active deployed combat unit, and when I rotated back to "The Real Air Force" the first few days I got attitude about being a "Training Weenie", and then I was put in charge and after a few weeks I got called "Gunny Highway".

I had no idea what that meant, until someone explained it to me.

But I do remember one troop I was walking with from one place to another on the flight line and he asked: "Why are you walking so fast?" I was just walking.

Saw a whole lotta pilots trained, and watching "kids" doing that thing, and then seeing those same men as they were in the last week before graduating, was a sight to behold in the change of attitude and demeanor.

So it's a sigmonkey wrench.