“The aircraft was finally ready for acceptance! Or so we all thought…”
Because this project had dragged into the new year, I could now return to the facility for 12 days. As soon as I arrived in Düsseldorf, I took full control of any further testing, engine runs and eventually the flight itself. All the contaminated ducts and components have been replaced so we are now ready for another engine run, directly followed by a test flight.
Condor requested that we do up to 9 cycles, but if after 4 cycles there is no smell or pollution then we can stop there. There are 2 pilots, me, and the tester from Condor. At take-off, we separate the 2 AC systems and keep them separated! With a max power take-off, we climb to 20.000ft, cruise for 10 minutes, and then circled back to Düsseldorf. After landing we use only the number 1 systems and conduct the same flight profile. On both occasions, there is no pollution coming from either engine. During the third flight, we only used the number 2 system and on the fourth, we used both engines and again no pollution. The aircraft is declared complete and the test flight is fully acceptable! It is now prepared for the final acceptance flight with Condor onboard. Other than some minor issues that are identified on this flight, the aircraft is deemed ready for acceptance!
Or so we all thought…
On the very first acceptance flight, I told everyone that they must all agree on any defects and make sure they put them in the logbook, then confirm if the aircraft needs to fly again. Following this final flight, the Condor Captain states in a conference call that he smelled oil on the flight deck. He failed, however, to put any mention of this in the logbook. Which started another whole fiasco! Because of this ongoing problem with the oil, Eva-11 was grounded for quite some time whilst an investigation was carried out. During this time Condor wanted to put decals on the exterior of the plane. Special equipment had to be ordered to allow access to the very top of the tail fin. This took two days to organise!
So, now the equipment, the decals themselves and the team all arrive in Düsseldorf and begin the application process. Unfortunately, the decal on the left side of the aircraft is not straight. The word Condor is at a very noticeable downward slant. This was somehow not noticed until the specialist team had left. A replacement decal must be ordered and the team have to come back all at Condor’s expense. A week later, the replacement decal arrived, with the specialists and the decal was applied correctly. During this time, the oil problem is investigated and rectified, and the wheels arrive and are replaced. The final defect rectification is all completed and is now ready to be handed over to Condor. The documents to complete the process are delayed by a day, after which, Eva-11 is finally leased to Condor.
One down. One to go!
The wheels removed from Eva-11 are sent back to the UK for overhaul and returned to Düsseldorf within one week then fitted to Helga-33. During this period there is a conversation between the inlet cowl manufacturer, Rolls Royce, Airbus and Avalon Engineering. Collectively they agree that if the Nayak engineer changed the wording on his release certificate to confirm that the repair was carried out to proper spec then it could be declared serviceable and fit for flight. This conversation took 2 weeks. The only other defect left to fix on Helga-33 was the APU, which currently failed to start at altitude. Troubleshooting confirmed the cause, and all spares were swiftly ordered and replaced. The aircraft had to fly up to 41,000 ft to check that the APU started. Fortunately, it did! With tests completed the aircraft returned to Dusseldorf, ready to be leased and join the Condor fleet, alongside Eva-11.
The Düsseldorf Saga should have been a 31-day process, but in total, it took around 5 months to complete. There were so many things going on at the same time. I had to work Christmas Day, New Year’s Day and every problem seemed to unearth another!
I learnt a great deal from this project. The first thing and most important is, to have the necessary spares shipped to a facility that has 24/7 customs coverage! The time it took for our spares and parts clear to customs was the biggest delay in this project. The next piece of advice I would like to offer is to build a personable relationship with everyone involved in the operation. So that when remote working is required, they know the person they are talking to, and communication is clearer! The stronger the relationship, the stronger the team.
If you would like to know or are interested in our services then please get in touch via our contact page.
