RAF Marham Work experience at XIII squadron Engineering (30th April to 11th May)

Brandon Wood
Bishop Ullathorne School in Coventry

Day 1
I arrived at the main guardroom at 0900 hours. I was met by Denise Foggett, Assistant community relations officer, after receiving passes I was escorted with the other 6 students to the station Headquarters for a full briefing about general health and safety and other important aspects of the placements. We were then driven to the Domestic supply flight to be issued with coveralls, boots, ear defenders and a Hi Vis jacket. We were then driven to our respective placements, I was one of the last to be dropped off as I was at the south west HAS site. I and the other student were then taken to meet our supervisor for the week, Chief Technician Graham Franks. We were given a health and safety brief and were told a bit about the history of the squadron and the aircraft themselves. After this quick introduction, I was taken to the squadron feeder to get lunch; this only cost £1.24, which was fantastic value, for fantastic food. After lunch, we were taken to see a Tornado, and a see in. After being given a short tour of the aircraft we went to the main control room, where we were told about what happened there. At 16:30 hrs, I was driven to the Main Guardroom my Chief Tech. Franks. Today was slow to start, but nonetheless varied and fascinating.

Day 2
Today began at 08:30; I was picked up again by Chief Tech. Franks. Once at the squadron we began by being given a tour of the tornado by the different trades:

Sooties (Propulsion), Leckies (Electronics), Fairies (Avionics), Riggers (Airframes) and Armourers. After this, I went with the Fairies to go and do some avionics testing. This gave me an opportunity to be shown around the pilot and navigators seats in the aircraft, an I was shown how the HUD or Heads up display worked, as well as the targeting computer. I then had lunch at 11:00 hrs, when the feeder opened. After lunch I began my first “real” bit of work, along with the other student, we had to clear a HAS, as well as put blanks on the wingtips of the aircraft and moving various workshop components around. This was very good, as it gave me a chance to do some “hands on” practical work. After this we accompanied SGT Pete Taylor on some errands, whilst doing this we visited the MT section, RAF Police Dog Section, and the engine bay, where I was allowed to see an engine being tested in the test bed, and the engine in full reheat! On the way back we passed the Visiting Aircraft section, where a Canberra, Tornado F3 and an Apache were, this was a rare opportunity to see an Apache taxi and take off. After this we were given a lift to the guardroom, another thoroughly enjoyable day.

Day 3
Today began with a short “tour” with the armourers. This was my first day of proper practical work.. First I was tasked with helping remove a Mauser 27mm cannon from the aircraft. After I took off the feed, I then helped by lowering a piece of wire which held the cannon in place, I found this quite amazing, that such a modern aircraft had such primitive technology! Then I and the other student picked up the barrel for the cannon, and helped to put it in place, whilst the adults replaced the actual cannon. It was quite amazing, how much the service life of a cannon depletes after firing! Then I went with the armourers again to take all of the explosive cartridges (which allow the weapons to be jettisoned) from the aircraft, so the Leckies could do some work on it, it was a very simple job! After this I had lunch at the feeder, the food was fantastic! After this I was again assigned to the armourers again, this time to take some unused bombs off the aircraft, we were doing really well, until we had an unexpected visitor!! A Tornado decided to park outside the HAS, and all of the tailpipe fumes were being funnelled into the HAS, my eyes began to stream, but luckily, we had finished the job, so we got out of there!! After a short wait in the crew room, the riggers came to me and said they had a job, this job was helping them to jack up a plane, after helping to set up the jacks, I the jacked up the back right hand side of the plane, this was not as hard as I anticipated!!! After this, I was taken back to the crew room, and then back to the crew room and then to the Guardroom, today was a fantastic day!

Day 4
Today I began with a task that would give me great self satisfaction; I was assigned to the Sooties, where I was to help change a seal in the engine, which involved taking most of the engine apart, which would take most of the day. All of this was hands on; I did many tasks such was taking fuel pipes off. This was pretty much the only task I did today. I was told I would be seeing this task through to the end, which made me feel proud to be there! Just as a change from the engineering side of thing, I was sent to the flight line to become a “liney” for a few hours. I helped do some pre flight checks to the plane, then I prepared to marshal the plane, but there was a problem, part of the airframe was not working, so I had to then abandon the see off, which I was not very happy about! After this I was given a lift to the guardroom by one of the Corporals. Today was a fantastic day!!

Day 5
Today was my last day of this week, I arrived at the squadron to be told that overnight, the other shift had finished changing the seal, so there was little left to do, but I still got involved putting pipes back on. We then did a quick test, where the engine was fired up, and we did a leak check, which involved standing under the running turbine, and seeing if any fuel was coming from the pipes, there was so we tightened the pipe and thankfully, the engine ran fine and the leak was gone. I was then with the Riggers for a bit doing CSAS (Control Stability Augmentation System) tests, these were not very practical, but nonetheless interesting. After this, I went with the marshals to do a see in. This involved doing some marshalling and then putting all the safety pins into the aircraft to prevent accidental discharge. After this I was told the aircraft would be flying again, so I helped refuel the aircraft, by attaching the fuel line from the bowser. Whilst the aircraft was being refuelled the fuel system was explained to me. We then waited a while for the pilots to arrive, at which point, I would finally get to do a see off. All was well until we saw a aircraft with the pilots for our jet in taxiing past, yet again; I did not get to do a see off! One final task of the week was to finish the job on aircraft 059, which I started yesterday; I went with the engineers to the test bed, where the jet was backed into a set of clamps, with the exhaust nozzles facing down a long tube. The engineer then started up the engine, where we did a final leak check, and then the engine went into reheat (see picture 1.1)

This week was very interesting and varied, it left me well set up for the next week, and very excited!

Day 6
I arrived back at the squadron after a long bank holiday break, only to be surprised by seeing lots of new faces, no on had told me that there would be a shift change after the weekend, so I had to start again, telling them what I had been doing. I met my new supervisor, Chief Technician Bob Fielding, who would find tasks for me to do during the week, and answer any questions I may have. My first day back was very slow, as I had to get to know everyone. My first task of the day was to go with the Leckies and test a TIALD (Thermal Imaging Airborne Laser Designator) Pod. The whole process was explained to me, and I was even allowed to use it to find heat signatures of the trucks that were pulling in and out of the hard standing. After lunch at the squadron feeder (which I missed over the bank holiday!), I was taken to see the Sooties, to help replace a component in the engine, when I got there, I was asked to help find a bolt that had gone missing, I spent over an hour looking for it, but it never turned up unfortunately! After waiting around for a while due to the lack of work, and numerous games of pool, I was given a lift back down to the guardroom. Today was varied but slow, but nonetheless fascinating.

Day 7
Today began a lot quicker. As soon as I got to the squadron, I was told to get my overalls on and go with some riggers to do some airframe tests. After a quick trip to the tool stores we went to the aircraft, where I was given the task of undoing the wire locking and disconnecting the battery. Just as I finished this, I turned around and saw a screwdriver rolling towards the drain. So off we went to go and get another screwdriver. Later on, I went with the Leckies to do some work on the same aircraft, and sure enough, the riggers were still trying to get the screwdriver out of the drain, it was very entertaining! After lunch I continued the work with the Leckies until I was offered the chance to go to the hot pit and see some refuelling, this was very fun, as I got to help out with many different aspects of the refuelling, and I was quite surprised when the replacement navigator came with the pilots lunch, which he was eating whilst doing his pre flight checks! After the refuelling was finished, I was finally given the chance to marshal an aircraft, from the hot pit to the taxiway. After this I was driven back to the squadron, where I was taken to briefly see the aircrew, and see how they planned missions, I was very surprised to see a lot of foreign pilots on liaison with the Tornado pilots! After this again I was given a lift to the guardroom, today was very varied and fascinating; it really gave me an insight into the lives of engineers and aircrew.

Day 8
Today was my last full day at the squadron. It began with a trip with the Sooties to go and check some seals on the engine. On the way, a surprise visitor came into Marham, a Sentry AWACS took off from the runway, it was a lot louder and quite a shock compared to the Tornados. The job involved a lot of hands on work, where I was unscrewing bits of the aircraft and doing fault diagnosis. This took most of the morning, so I was surprised when I was told it was “feeder o’clock”. After a brief lunch, I was taken to II(AC) Squadron to see some of the tanks, this was really good, as I got to sit in the gunners seat of a Chieftain. It was fantastic. After getting a lift back to XIII, I was off with some more Sooties this time, replacing another part of the engine, which controls fuel intake. This was very hands on, then I was visited by Denise Foggett, and was told that my coordinator from school had phoned to ask how I was getting on, I said I had been getting on really well, and will be very sad to leave. After this, I decided to take some photos of the aircraft which I could put in my diary, which I did. After this I made my way back to the squadron, and was given a lift back to the guardroom, Today was fantastic, there was a lot of hands on work which allowed me to learn about the aircraft and RAF life.

Day 9
Today only being a half day, I was taken over to the aircrew, so I could get them to sign a print which I had got, they all signed it, and I was given a tour of the mission planning centre, and shown the pilots G suit and equipment. I said my goodbyes to the engineers and was taken to the station headquarters, where I received a debrief from Denise, and gave feedback to her. After this I was taken to the equipment stores to hand my coveralls and boots in, then I was dropped off at the main gate. Today was short but very interesting.

Conclusion
My work experience at RAF Marham gave me a firm insight into the RAF life, which will hopefully help me when I enlist in a few years time. I would recommend this placement to anyone who is considering a career in military engineering, but if you don’t like getting your hands dirty, I would go for another placement. It was truly worthwhile, and was a fascinating and varied experience, I hope to come again in a few years time, either on another placement, or as a fully fledged pilot. I will be returning this year on Air Cadet Annual Camp, and I hope to see some familiar faces. This placement can be given nothing but praise. My thanks go out to Mrs Foggett for helping make it possible, and to all of the personnel of XIII squadron, for making it happen.