Borescope

My left hand is going numb
I try to flex it a little bit to relieve the tension
But am rewarded with unwanted jiggling of the viewscreen image
So I resolve to hold it still
No matter the pins and needles and cramping

Christ, I wish this thing would hurry up!

56, 57, 58, 59, 60.....
The automatic turning tool slowly turned the Pratt & Whitney engine
The blades of the Ninth stage compressor marching by the tip of my borescope
It's little white light a pinpoint in the darkness that is the interior of the jet engine

I just have to hold it still until we get up to one hundred twenty
At least that's what I tell myself
As I watch the blade tips in my viewscreen intently as they go by
Looking for any nicks or unwanted wear upon them

Everything looks great so far
The blades are clean with minimal erosion
It should make the customer happy to hear

118, 119, 120
The turning tool stops it's electric motor
The blades stop their marching by my view
I pause the recording
And my hand flexes in relief
Getting ready to pull the bore scope probe out of the access port

But I have to inform it that we aren't done yet
As I adjust my view with tiny movements of my fingers
And a judicious wiggle of the joystick
Which angles the end of the probe slightly upwards

Now we have to look at the blade roots
All of them
Only then can we say that we looked at the whole set of blades

I unpause the recording
Making sure the red dot starts flashing again
Then press the GO button on the turning tool
Which starts it's blade count all over again

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7......
At .35 Rotations Per Minute

My hand cusses at me
Because it knows it has to hold still for another three minutes
As my eyes take in all the sights on the screen
Looking for loose or missing blade locks
Nicks, erosion and etcetera

52, 53, 54, 55, 56.....
Anything that catches my eye