There was an F-8 flying out of Holloman AFB as late as 1990. It was maintained by a retired CMsgt. They used the north ramp which was the same ramp that the drones flew out of. I was in the test squadron there and we would help the chief with things like tow jobs and lifting the wing leading edge.
I remember Mike, he was the maintainer you speak of. I helped him work on that F-8 from time to time. We worked on AT-38B's together before he retired. He was also an old F-4 Crew Chief like I was.
Great news about the F-8. I worked at the Vought plant in '69 and '70 as an engineer in the aerodynamics department. Yes, as another viewer mentioned, the plant was in Grand Prairie, TX between Dallas and Ft Worth, and near Arlington. The plant adjoined the Dallas Naval Air Station. When I was there I think the F-8 production was over. We were cranking out A-7s. I worked at the wind tunnel doing store separation tests on the A-7 using dynamically-scaled models with a big net behind the model to catch the separated stores. It will be great to see a well-preserved F-8 back in Texas. I read somewhere on the internet (always reliable!) that the F-8 would be airworthy, but today's news sounds more like static display. Either way, good news!
That's awesome, really cool that you had a hand in the A-7! As I understand it, the F-8 was one of the last to fly, and those flights were 25 years ago. I believe it's already been partially disassembled too. Our Phantom sat dormant in a hangar for 3 years and she's been a real handful to get back to flightworthy.
Just found your channel. I was an electronics tech at RAF Alconbury back in the late 60's, working on RF-4C's. Watching you resurrect this aircraft will undoubtably bring back a lot of memories as I go back and watch from the beginning. Thanks for working so hard to preserve our.military aircraft heritage.
3:10 socket As we took off, just before we joined up with the rest of the flight, we always unloaded the AC and reduced the throttle. One day the front seater told me there was a socket that came up and as he reduced throttle it bounced back along the inside top of the canopy and I snagged it. I zipped it into my g-suit and returned it at the maintenance debrief.
@@DieselThunderAviation We did it every flight habitually. There was a WSO at Misawa Japan that accidentally "ejected" into his open canopy and was killed. As I understand it there was a flashlight that got in the initiator on top of the back seat. As he opened his canopy it jammed into the initiator and fired it into the canopy. Of course when you eject properly the canopy is flung back off the AC prior to the seat firing. (If I remember my 1970 class correctly)
Correct! Step one in a normal ejection is the canopy is jettisoned. The canopy has a physical cable attachment to the interlock block so when the canopy departs the aircraft, it pulls the interlock block and arms the firing mechanism, which fires after a time delay to allow canopy separation. Ejection accidents are never good.
That could have had a very different ending. As a structural tech. on Kurnass (F-4E) in B-check and on the flight line / HAS, we took FOD very seriously. I hope someone was courtmarshieled & saw the inside of military stockade over that event. In the IAF heads roll over such mistakes. Smart move to unload the jet like that !
@@trespire I palmed it at the debrief and shook the hand of the structural debriefers. As I did it I passed it to him. I came to really appreciate our maintainers. Especially at Udorn Thailand in 1972.
I have lived in North Dallas all of my life. Was a kid in the 70s when the Vought plant was up and producing F-8s. The plant was located on the West side of Naval Air Station Dallas. On the border between Dallas and Grand Prairie. Spent a lot of time on the railroad tracks across Jefferson Boulevard off the North end of the runway photographing the F-14s and later F-18s coming in to land. They were so close I could almost check the air in the tires if i had a tire pressure gauge. When the station closed the Navy moved over to Carswell in Ft Worth and took it over from the Air Force. I believe there's now a Walmart warehouse where the Vought plant used to be.
It was a shame that Vought sold to Triumph Group, but they do have facilities in DFW still. At Hensley, the USAF still has active assets there. I was a part of one of the communications units. It's by the Army National Gaurd base. Special Operations would use the field to practice HALO drops at night, and still do from what I understand..
The base you were talking about for the f-8 up in Dallas was NASJRB Fort Worth located next to white settlement. My dad has been there in reserves for a couple years after serving almost 2 decades active duty, it’s a nice base.
Great find on the tool hunt. Glad you showed that, most people don’t know how important that is and how much time we spend on tool accountability/safety.
Nice to hear about the F-8. Cool aircraft. I think the French navy flew them until 1999! And btw, I think that, given pilots of similar skill and experience, the F-4 was more than a match for the crusader in a dogfight ; ).
Pro tip: Paint your tools in fluorescent paint that will glow if you use a UV light. This makes it easy to find in the case of a dropped tool. Just turn on the UV light, turn off the indoor lights, and whatever glows brightly is what you are probably seeking.
As a two man Load Toad (Responsible for our tools), and having spent time in CTK, and having seen the end result of a tool left in the cockpit....pulling up a tool that " wasnt lost" is, in short, horrifying! I know you plan to borescope the cockpits, and this has worked for you. But please look into better tool inventory before and after! These were probability the only write ups I ever gave out during my time. We had a crew chief leave a flashlight in an A-10 cockpit at RAF Alconbury, (A/C219), end result was running off the end of the runway into a corn field. I was one of those who helped recover it from waist deep mud. It was deemed too expensive to return to airworthiness, was used for a load trainer, then a static display aircraft, then eventually moved to Coldwar Museum at RAF Bentwaters.
262 is a really neat aircraft! The Crusader isn't a certainty though, they have to raise enough money in order to cover the costs to transport it back to the U.S. first.
The lost crows foot brought back my own memories of dropping stuff in the A-4's I worked on. No fun at all! We used "FOD tape" on our tools. The FOD tape was reflective, to make it easier to find with a flashlight. There were also various color codes, to make it easier to figure out what shop or tool box it was from. I hope it is still available, but a web search doesn't produce anything like I remember from 40 years ago.
Oopps when you find something else that you were'nt looking for, still a good job you found it. Get the same thing at work. Hey good luck with the F8, I last saw one of those fly in the UK during the late 80's, that was a French Navy one going through a display routine at RAF Fairford, pouring with rain he did an impressive, fast low level display.
We had strict tool control - it was the tool room member's job to inventory every drawer and if there was a tool missing you didn't go home until located. When working the F-4 cockpits (area 1) during same FOD inspection of rear seat I could sometimes get a tip finding coins, or a nice pen occasionally. Last to fly, would it be an RF-8? F-8 had more Mig kills than F-4 in Nam. Thanks for the Mig -21 and CH-46 footage! Wonder if that Me-262 was one built here at Paine Field?
The question of what city was LTV at should be Grand Prairie, Texas. I spent quite a few training periods there working on J79 engines and the airplanes flying around making a lot of noise and pride as well. As for checking tire pressures a note is if you can hear a pssst noise it's losing air also. Not sure if you have a nitrogen bottle cart and standoff gages for servicing the pneumatics, but a thought for safety. I do enjoy the videos and seeing people working on making an aircraft somewhat functional still. I regret that I live to far away to help on maintaining the aircraft, but look forward to your videos. Keep up the great work on the Phantom and helping out with the other organizations. Have you contacted the Combat Air Measum in Topeka, Kansas for help or parts??
Ling Timco Vought (LTV) and later just Vought Aircraft inc. was on the westside of NAS Dallas. It's a Home Depot distribution center now. That might be backwards. Chance Vought was bought out by LTV in the early 60's before I was born. So, I'm not exactly certain but I worked at Vought in 85' - 86' and they were doing A-7 wing upgrades at that time. The last F-8's I saw come through there were on their way to the philippines or Thailand? I don't know, The Navy and Marines had retired them by then.
Thanks for the awesome video!, I learned something new, is the Vietnam War Museum open to the public? Love the new camera, the walk around is nice, the CH-46 stuff my son I love! This video reminded me to donate! 😁🇺🇸
I'm digging the new camera as well, even added a shotgun mic to it as well that pics up aircraft a bit better. For the museum, They aren't currently open to the public, not like a typical museum. You can arrange ahead of time to tour the hangar currently. They are working hard to get things to the point where they can be open the public.
Only found on extra thing rolling around the back cockpit? You must have had to hurry. A flexible borescope would have been a real godsend in my days on the F-4, many hours spent looking for lost stuff back there. It was a good idea to wait to change the right main until it is off jacks. It is much tougher to lift it and the brake stack up the longer distance off the ground. The acquisition of the F-8 sounds like a great find of what is a pretty rare aircraft these days. I wish them the best of luck.
We're pretty good at keeping track of stuff that falls down, mostly since there isn't a lot of us turning wrenches on the airplane. For the right main, I did place the tire change jack underneath it before we pulled the wing jack out just so that it's ready for when the time comes.
@@DieselThunderAviation You guys seem to be very good at tool discipline. That socket could have been there for a couple of years, especially if it is a brand none of you use.
@@JohnMckeown-dl2cl I don't think it's been there that long. We've only recently had a reason to even open that access panel for the shuttle valve and have tools there.
Step one is to get her here, and that's what they are raising money for. Once she's here, I don't know the likelihood over her running again, it's been 25 years since she was parked for good.
The fundraiser for the F-8 is a separate thing, and that goes toward the Vietnam War Flight Museum. I really wish we sold shirts and other swag online, but we don't have that capability yet.
You guys do great a job with the amount of aircraft you have and how you manage your manpower and resources. Got a question though. Most places around the world who fly historic aircraft jets or props, particularly significant ones, case in point the British Avro Vulcan bomber XH558, as well as approval from CAA/FAA need a design authority to oversee that correct maintenance standards are upheld to maintain the flight certification. Again in the case of the Vulcan, because AVRO was bought out, renamed etc, it Airbus who was the designated design authority. In the case of your beloved F-4D and others, who is your design authority and do you need one in USA? Could you talk in a future video about how your authority to fly system works in the USA and how it’s specific to your Phantom and the Collings group?
That is a great question, and I'd end up typing paragraphs to answer that. I will do a video on that very subject, and likely will invite Jet Jerod to help with it. He's been involved with these things for a few years and has also flown multiple air shows.
Changing a #3 fuel cell on an RF-4C, I dropped a socket into the "fuel" opening at the bottom of the cavity. Magnet fishing saved me from having to remove the Quick Disconnect on the bottom of the jet. (Those were a bitch to remove/replace!)
Missplacing tools anywhere on the jet is a big nono. Sorry to be critical but FOD is a big deal. The Crusader is another iconic Vietnam war bird, respect to the crews and operators. Hope it all works out.
It is somewhat variable. The J-57 on the F-100 is a single stage burner and it is only on or off. The J-79 in the Phantom features a 4 stage afterburner and you can control how many stages you are using with the throttle handle. When you push the throttles outboard to engage afterburner, you are only using stage 1, or just simply minimum burner. As you move the throttles forward, you add more stages of burner and get a corresponding increase in thrust and fuel burn. With the handles full forward you'll get full A/B. There are no notches in the throttle for the different stages, you'd feel it in the seat as each stage is engaged.
Steve is 100% correct. Flags painted on aircraft are always relative to the direction of forward flight. Check out the T-38 takeoff at the end of the video, in the background is a lit flag on a pole that is flying the same direction as the one painted on the helicopter.
Wasn't expecting the socket, though it likely wasn't there very long. Likely was from a previous attempt at removing the shuttle valve. Glad it was found nonetheless.
There was an F-8 flying out of Holloman AFB as late as 1990. It was maintained by a retired CMsgt. They used the north ramp which was the same ramp that the drones flew out of. I was in the test squadron there and we would help the chief with things like tow jobs and lifting the wing leading edge.
I remember Mike, he was the maintainer you speak of. I helped him work on that F-8 from time to time. We worked on AT-38B's together before he retired. He was also an old F-4 Crew Chief like I was.
@ I recognize your name. When were you in the test squadron? I also crewed F4s at Clark and Osan.
@@stevehelms3192 90th Crew Chief on 69-0265. Mar 79 - Oct 83. 435th Crew Chief Oct 83 - Aug 88. 7th Crew Chief Aug 88 - Aug 90.
Great news about the F-8. I worked at the Vought plant in '69 and '70 as an engineer in the aerodynamics department. Yes, as another viewer mentioned, the plant was in Grand Prairie, TX between Dallas and Ft Worth, and near Arlington. The plant adjoined the Dallas Naval Air Station. When I was there I think the F-8 production was over. We were cranking out A-7s. I worked at the wind tunnel doing store separation tests on the A-7 using dynamically-scaled models with a big net behind the model to catch the separated stores. It will be great to see a well-preserved F-8 back in Texas. I read somewhere on the internet (always reliable!) that the F-8 would be airworthy, but today's news sounds more like static display. Either way, good news!
That's awesome, really cool that you had a hand in the A-7! As I understand it, the F-8 was one of the last to fly, and those flights were 25 years ago. I believe it's already been partially disassembled too. Our Phantom sat dormant in a hangar for 3 years and she's been a real handful to get back to flightworthy.
Just found your channel. I was an electronics tech at RAF Alconbury back in the late 60's, working on RF-4C's. Watching you resurrect this aircraft will undoubtably bring back a lot of memories as I go back and watch from the beginning. Thanks for working so hard to preserve our.military aircraft heritage.
Thanks, and welcome to the channel! Our crew chief also worked on RF-4C's.
3:10 socket As we took off, just before we joined up with the rest of the flight, we always unloaded the AC and reduced the throttle. One day the front seater told me there was a socket that came up and as he reduced throttle it bounced back along the inside top of the canopy and I snagged it. I zipped it into my g-suit and returned it at the maintenance debrief.
Awesome! If I understand it correctly, that was a routine thing to do after a maintenance period to help find anything left behind?
@@DieselThunderAviation We did it every flight habitually. There was a WSO at Misawa Japan that accidentally "ejected" into his open canopy and was killed. As I understand it there was a flashlight that got in the initiator on top of the back seat. As he opened his canopy it jammed into the initiator and fired it into the canopy. Of course when you eject properly the canopy is flung back off the AC prior to the seat firing. (If I remember my 1970 class correctly)
Correct! Step one in a normal ejection is the canopy is jettisoned. The canopy has a physical cable attachment to the interlock block so when the canopy departs the aircraft, it pulls the interlock block and arms the firing mechanism, which fires after a time delay to allow canopy separation.
Ejection accidents are never good.
That could have had a very different ending. As a structural tech. on Kurnass (F-4E) in B-check and on the flight line / HAS, we took FOD very seriously.
I hope someone was courtmarshieled & saw the inside of military stockade over that event. In the IAF heads roll over such mistakes.
Smart move to unload the jet like that !
@@trespire I palmed it at the debrief and shook the hand of the structural debriefers. As I did it I passed it to him. I came to really appreciate our maintainers. Especially at Udorn Thailand in 1972.
I have lived in North Dallas all of my life. Was a kid in the 70s when the Vought plant was up and producing F-8s. The plant was located on the West side of Naval Air Station Dallas. On the border between Dallas and Grand Prairie. Spent a lot of time on the railroad tracks across Jefferson Boulevard off the North end of the runway photographing the F-14s and later F-18s coming in to land. They were so close I could almost check the air in the tires if i had a tire pressure gauge. When the station closed the Navy moved over to Carswell in Ft Worth and took it over from the Air Force. I believe there's now a Walmart warehouse where the Vought plant used to be.
Wow, sounds like quite the experience! Really cool that you got to see F-14's back when they were operational.
It was a shame that Vought sold to Triumph Group, but they do have facilities in DFW still. At Hensley, the USAF still has active assets there. I was a part of one of the communications units. It's by the Army National Gaurd base. Special Operations would use the field to practice HALO drops at night, and still do from what I understand..
An F-8U is in the old Alameda NAS in the Hornet hanger bay. I got to sit in the cockpit. They did an excellent job restoring it.
It would be awesome to see a flying F-8 again!
Sure would be! I think the reality of that ever happening anywhere is really low. The final flight of the Crusader was in December of 1999.
Never boring… even the ongoing “will it start? Will it stop?” saga over with both the tug and generator 😂
The base you were talking about for the f-8 up in Dallas was NASJRB Fort Worth located next to white settlement. My dad has been there in reserves for a couple years after serving almost 2 decades active duty, it’s a nice base.
Great find on the tool hunt. Glad you showed that, most people don’t know how important that is and how much time we spend on tool accountability/safety.
Nice to hear about the F-8. Cool aircraft. I think the French navy flew them until 1999!
And btw, I think that, given pilots of similar skill and experience, the F-4 was more than a match for the crusader in a dogfight ; ).
That is always a great start…those turbines on the CH-46 always sound cool and the blades moving really adds so much
GE T-58's! It's interesting how much the CH-46 and CH-47 sound alike.
Pro tip: Paint your tools in fluorescent paint that will glow if you use a UV light. This makes it easy to find in the case of a dropped tool. Just turn on the UV light, turn off the indoor lights, and whatever glows brightly is what you are probably seeking.
That's a really cool idea!
Great news about the F-8! In the 60s the Naval Air Reserve had a Crusader (along with a Neptune & Skyraider) based at Ellington.
As a two man Load Toad (Responsible for our tools), and having spent time in CTK, and having seen the end result of a tool left in the cockpit....pulling up a tool that " wasnt lost" is, in short, horrifying! I know you plan to borescope the cockpits, and this has worked for you. But please look into better tool inventory before and after! These were probability the only write ups I ever gave out during my time.
We had a crew chief leave a flashlight in an A-10 cockpit at RAF Alconbury, (A/C219), end result was running off the end of the runway into a corn field. I was one of those who helped recover it from waist deep mud. It was deemed too expensive to return to airworthiness, was used for a load trainer, then a static display aircraft, then eventually moved to Coldwar Museum at RAF Bentwaters.
The 262 is really cool. Glad to hear about bringing a Gunfigher home from frog land. ;)
262 is a really neat aircraft! The Crusader isn't a certainty though, they have to raise enough money in order to cover the costs to transport it back to the U.S. first.
The lost crows foot brought back my own memories of dropping stuff in the A-4's I worked on. No fun at all! We used "FOD tape" on our tools. The FOD tape was reflective, to make it easier to find with a flashlight. There were also various color codes, to make it easier to figure out what shop or tool box it was from. I hope it is still available, but a web search doesn't produce anything like I remember from 40 years ago.
also see if you can get a A6 INTRUDER
Oopps when you find something else that you were'nt looking for, still a good job you found it.
Get the same thing at work.
Hey good luck with the F8, I last saw one of those fly in the UK during the late 80's, that was a French Navy one going through a display routine at RAF Fairford, pouring with rain he did an impressive, fast low level display.
We had strict tool control - it was the tool room member's job to inventory every drawer and if there was a tool missing you didn't go home until located. When working the F-4 cockpits (area 1) during same FOD inspection of rear seat I could sometimes get a tip finding coins, or a nice pen occasionally. Last to fly, would it be an RF-8? F-8 had more Mig kills than F-4 in Nam. Thanks for the Mig -21 and CH-46 footage! Wonder if that Me-262 was one built here at Paine Field?
Bravo. Go ahead
Excellent video, thank you for sharing!
Our pleasure, glad you enjoyed it!
The question of what city was LTV at should be Grand Prairie, Texas. I spent quite a few training periods there working on J79 engines and the airplanes flying around making a lot of noise and pride as well. As for checking tire pressures a note is if you can hear a pssst noise it's losing air also. Not sure if you have a nitrogen bottle cart and standoff gages for servicing the pneumatics, but a thought for safety. I do enjoy the videos and seeing people working on making an aircraft somewhat functional still. I regret that I live to far away to help on maintaining the aircraft, but look forward to your videos. Keep up the great work on the Phantom and helping out with the other organizations. Have you contacted the Combat Air Measum in Topeka, Kansas for help or parts??
That was the last Gunfighter…Hoping you can get it there 😜👍🏻👍🏻🧐
Ling Timco Vought (LTV) and later just Vought Aircraft inc. was on the westside of NAS Dallas. It's a Home Depot distribution center now. That might be backwards. Chance Vought was bought out by LTV in the early 60's before I was born. So, I'm not exactly certain but I worked at Vought in 85' - 86' and they were doing A-7 wing upgrades at that time. The last F-8's I saw come through there were on their way to the philippines or Thailand? I don't know, The Navy and Marines had retired them by then.
Thanks for the awesome video!, I learned something new, is the Vietnam War Museum open to the public? Love the new camera, the walk around is nice, the CH-46 stuff my son I love! This video reminded me to donate! 😁🇺🇸
I'm digging the new camera as well, even added a shotgun mic to it as well that pics up aircraft a bit better. For the museum, They aren't currently open to the public, not like a typical museum. You can arrange ahead of time to tour the hangar currently. They are working hard to get things to the point where they can be open the public.
Ahh, the good old days digging through the deep parts of the cockpit looking for FOD and dropped tools 😂 Wish we had those tiny cameras back then 👍
Yeah, that borescope camera is very handy!
Looking good DT
Thank you Luck!
That L39 looks like an Shooting Star dated an F18 😂
Only found on extra thing rolling around the back cockpit? You must have had to hurry. A flexible borescope would have been a real godsend in my days on the F-4, many hours spent looking for lost stuff back there. It was a good idea to wait to change the right main until it is off jacks. It is much tougher to lift it and the brake stack up the longer distance off the ground. The acquisition of the F-8 sounds like a great find of what is a pretty rare aircraft these days. I wish them the best of luck.
We're pretty good at keeping track of stuff that falls down, mostly since there isn't a lot of us turning wrenches on the airplane. For the right main, I did place the tire change jack underneath it before we pulled the wing jack out just so that it's ready for when the time comes.
@@DieselThunderAviation You guys seem to be very good at tool discipline. That socket could have been there for a couple of years, especially if it is a brand none of you use.
@@JohnMckeown-dl2cl I don't think it's been there that long. We've only recently had a reason to even open that access panel for the shuttle valve and have tools there.
❤❤❤
Love the F-8 news - be good to see one at least be able to ground run - if thats even possible
Step one is to get her here, and that's what they are raising money for. Once she's here, I don't know the likelihood over her running again, it's been 25 years since she was parked for good.
Always look in the last place first cause thats where it will be 🧐😆🤣
Would love to buy some of those phantom shirts!Are those shirts available for purchase to help towards the fundraiser?
The fundraiser for the F-8 is a separate thing, and that goes toward the Vietnam War Flight Museum. I really wish we sold shirts and other swag online, but we don't have that capability yet.
@ thanks a lot, anyways. I truly appreciate what you guys do for the warbird community.
You guys do great a job with the amount of aircraft you have and how you manage your manpower and resources. Got a question though.
Most places around the world who fly historic aircraft jets or props, particularly significant ones, case in point the British Avro Vulcan bomber XH558, as well as approval from CAA/FAA need a design authority to oversee that correct maintenance standards are upheld to maintain the flight certification. Again in the case of the Vulcan, because AVRO was bought out, renamed etc, it Airbus who was the designated design authority.
In the case of your beloved F-4D and others, who is your design authority and do you need one in USA?
Could you talk in a future video about how your authority to fly system works in the USA and how it’s specific to your Phantom and the Collings group?
That is a great question, and I'd end up typing paragraphs to answer that. I will do a video on that very subject, and likely will invite Jet Jerod to help with it. He's been involved with these things for a few years and has also flown multiple air shows.
Changing a #3 fuel cell on an RF-4C, I dropped a socket into the "fuel" opening at the bottom of the cavity. Magnet fishing saved me from having to remove the Quick Disconnect on the bottom of the jet. (Those were a bitch to remove/replace!)
Missplacing tools anywhere on the jet is a big nono. Sorry to be critical but FOD is a big deal.
The Crusader is another iconic Vietnam war bird, respect to the crews and operators. Hope it all works out.
Ah...yes. The F-8 has the variable incidence wind....
does the j79 have variable after burner or is it on/off?
It is somewhat variable. The J-57 on the F-100 is a single stage burner and it is only on or off. The J-79 in the Phantom features a 4 stage afterburner and you can control how many stages you are using with the throttle handle. When you push the throttles outboard to engage afterburner, you are only using stage 1, or just simply minimum burner. As you move the throttles forward, you add more stages of burner and get a corresponding increase in thrust and fuel burn. With the handles full forward you'll get full A/B. There are no notches in the throttle for the different stages, you'd feel it in the seat as each stage is engaged.
@DieselThunderAviation so it's 4 stage. Tha ks for the info
Too bad you can't roll the thing inverted and give it a shake.
Maybe soon!
Would love to see her do that one day!
You guys need to do a colab with AgentJz’s channel…He could help explain the engines on all
those aircraft 👍🏻🤩
Would love to do that one day! Though that may be a bit of a challenge, as I believe he's located up in Canada.
@ He is…Might see if would come down 👍🏻🤩
How come a cease work tool check didn't spot that socket was missing???
Hey, why is the flag on that Marine Helo backwards. That is desecrating our flag.
@@briandavid1254 Flags are put on in the direction of travel. If it was a real flag it would wave towards the rear of the aircraft.
Steve is 100% correct. Flags painted on aircraft are always relative to the direction of forward flight. Check out the T-38 takeoff at the end of the video, in the background is a lit flag on a pole that is flying the same direction as the one painted on the helicopter.
@ hold on, let me get my wife. She needs to read this.
Balls jumped into my throat when the socket showed up.
Wasn't expecting the socket, though it likely wasn't there very long. Likely was from a previous attempt at removing the shuttle valve. Glad it was found nonetheless.