This was my first trip on the B747 as a ride on mechanic by myself
So when I hit the bottom of the rolling covered air stairs in Ankara I was distracted
The small group of officials standing there were a good looking bunch
All in crisp white uniforms with little airport badges
And about half women
Very attractive women
For a few seconds I forgot there was an airplane I was supposed to be tending
Introduced myself and just sort of took in the three women and their dark Turkish beauty
I decided that living in Turkey wouldn't be the worst fate on earth for certain
But I wanted to walk around the airplane once before the fuel truck got there
I made it about halfway around before I had to go bother with the fuel
The flight engineer flagged me over as I was walking over to the truck
"Here's what we want on board for the trip back"
He said as he handed me the slip of paper
I looked at it
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, we need to get going. That will be plenty."
It seemed to me that the amount of fuel he wanted to add
Well, it would add up to a total of less than what we'd used to get here
I shrugged and got moving, what'd I know anyways?
The fueling truck was in place under the left wing
I greeted the two refuel guys with a "Hello" and a nod
They said something in their language and smiled back
I climbed aboard the little basket with one of them
The other one ran up the truck motor as we raised on up to the wing fuel panel
I popped open the four latches and snapped the two panels down into place
After hooking up the hose I set up the switches to send the fuel where I wanted it
Pouring fuel into number two and three main
I took half a minute to do some figuring on a scrap of paper
Need four thousand pounds more in the reserves
Ten thousand more in the outboard mains
Forty thousand for the two and three inboard main tanks
None for the center
Ok
I threw four more switches which opened corresponding valves in the wing
The truck slowly pumped it's fuel up and into the big Boeing
I had a few minutes to look around
All the Haji's were slowly filing out of the terminal
In a casual double line across the hundred yards of tarmac
Men and women all wearing the same outfit
A loose fitting off white outfit of two pieces with a sash
Simple leather sandals on their feet
Most had small bags thrown over their shoulders
Some had empty jugs hanging from their bags as well
I asked about that later
Apparently it's for "Zam Zam Water" from some holy well at some point on the Hajj
A person can collect it and take it home with them
They all marched slowly out to the airplane
I turned back to my job at hand
Watching my refueling panel gauges
We dinged my magic numbers
I shut off the tank valves one by one until we were done
Hose unhooked I put the cover back on and closed the two panels
The four latches snapped shut with a satisfying noise
I hopped off the lift as soon as we hit the downstops
Waving goodbye to the two refuelers I walked briskly to the nose landing gear
Arriving at the rear side of the gear
I put a hand up on the steering cylinder while clambering up on top of the tires
Balancing against the gear strut I reach up and pop the latch handle to the E&E hatch
Following the silly stenciled arrows I rotate the handle 180 degrees
The hatch then pushes up and slides starboard
Now I can climb up on top of the steering cylinders and get my ladder
The eight foot ladder was barely able to be maneuvered out the hatch
You had to feed it up at an angle to one side of the compartment
Until one end of it was almost wedged up to the main deck floor beams
Then the other end could be fed down at an angle through the E&E hatch opening
Getting it out that was wasn't easy by yourself
But not getting the ladder wasn't really an option
After the ladder was out I set it up so I could climb right up into the E&E compartment
That's where my tools and the oil was kept
I grabbed a partial case of quart Mobil Jet Oil,a screwdriver, and channel locks
Dragging everything over to the number one engine
I set the ladder up on the left side of the still hot Prat & Whitney JT9D engine
I popped open the oil service hatch on the cowling exposing the oil tank
The oil cap was hot
Too hot
I used a rag to grab the cap lock and took it off
Almost dropping it
I set it on top of the ladder
I couldn't see the oil inside the filler neck
So I grabbed a quart can of oil from the base of the ladder
Setting the channel locks on their widest setting I aimed carefully at the top of the can
Pop! I hammered the channel locks into the can
A small rectangular hole appears like magic in the lid
I rotate the can and do it again for a vent hole
The oil tank is fed the contents of that can
Not quite full still so I pop another
Now it's full to the brim
Just right
Cap goes back on
Cap lock snapped into place
Cowling hatch closed
Climb down
Repeat ritual at the other three engines
All told the refueling and oil ritual takes less than forty five minutes
All the Haji's seem to be on board now
I'm concerned that I'm holding up the flight
So I hurry putting everything away
Case of oil gets stowed on the right side of the tunnel
My tools are stashed back in my box
The ladder is wedged back in it's place along the width of the floor
I'm not going to bother with climbing back down and then back up the jetway
There's a floor hatch up to the main deck
Besides
The jetway might have been pulled away by now
I don't know why
But the nagging feeling that I might get left behind keeps nipping at me
I close the E&E hatch from the inside
The compartment gets suddenly dark
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