I think it was Denver. We were coming home from seeing family in Tennessee.
We were seated together in the very rear of the airplane. I had the aisle seat with Elli beside me where there should have been a window. Across from me was the rear-facing flight attendant seat. All seemed well until they tried to start the second engine. The two engines were mounted on opposite sides of the aircraft fuselage near the rear, so the problem with the engine was very obvious to us.
After a number of attempts to start, we sat in silence. The pilot eventually announced that the ground mechanics would be there shortly. They did arrive, and after much clattering and banging, they did get the engine to start. Then shut it down and restarted two or three more times. The pilot came on the intercom and stated that a minor starter part had been replaced, and as soon as the ship’s logbook was back on board we’d be off into the wild blue yonder.
I was able to half stand and get a look out the left-side window. I said to the patiently waiting flight attendant that there was a circle of airline personnel standing in a circle passing a logbook around with a pen. No one was willing to sign off on our fresh repair. “Is this normal, or is this behavior an issue?” She said she was sure that wasn’t what I was seeing. Someone signed off on it, and we took off.
Everything seemed hunky-dory as we got airborne, and we heard the normal sounds of the landing gear being stowed. And then, from the area of the worked-on engine, came another loud clang. The flight attendant looked as though she had swallowed her gum. The last clang must have been the last noise of the landing gear being stowed, as we made it home without incident.
Now consider that commercial aircraft transporting hundreds of people have been in daily, routine use for 30 years and beyond. Travel by commercial airline is supposed to be a bunch safer than traveling by private automobile, and a passenger car at age 30 is (in Washington state) eligible for “collector” license plates.
Here are some more statistical things to consider. My daughter worked as an EMT for a large regional ambulance company in Washington state for a while. She said the fleet of ambulances used Ford chassis and that most of them had logged more than 400,000 miles. They had gasoline engines and automatic transmissions. She said that while patient care of course had the highest priority, getting each ambulance into the company shop in Spokane for scheduled maintenance was an absolute must.
I’m involved with an online group that’s partial to Lincoln Town Cars. It seems that airport livery companies (think of an airport taxi, that’s a Lincoln) and limousine companies plan on a half-million miles on a new unit. And yes, the maintenance and services these cars get are textbook and rigid.
Let me add this disclaimer – it isn’t just Ford products; these are the only examples I have firsthand feedback on. Practically any vehicle will last a long time with proper maintenance.
Just as a commercial airliner has a logbook that stays with the unit – let me suggest some sort of maintenance record book for every piece of equipment you own.
Require that every operator, service person and mechanic write down everything that is done to each unit. Fuel. Added coolant. Added oil. Added hydraulic fluid. Regular maintenance, such as oil and filter changes, valve adjustments, front-end alignments, windshield wiper replacements, light bulb replacements, etc.
Ya, that’s a lot of work. But here are the benefits.
Say you have three service trucks, all the same, all doing the same job. If you have one that’s getting 5 miles to the gallon worse fuel mileage than the others, there’s a reason. If one of those units starts needing oil added between scheduled oil changes, there’s a reason. It may be luck of the draw, and that one needs replacement sooner. If it’s the same one using more fuel, it may be the operator.
If a unit starts using more fuel, there’s a reason. I bought a used car for my teenage daughter to use. I drove it myself to make sure it was safe and that everything worked. I required her to write down mileage and gallons when she fueled up. She was getting noticeably worse fuel mileage. Talking to her, she had understood that the “D” was where she should have the transmission gear indicator rather than the “O” for overdrive. Problem solved. From 18 back to 22.
When her brother got his first car, I showed him how to keep a record book. A year later he was accused of stealing gas because someone had switched gas caps with his car and another of the same make but a different color. He got his record book and told the accuser that he had recorded and had receipts for all the gas that went in his car. He said, “Come with me now, and we’ll go fill it up. If the gas mileage is different from what it’s been, then you’ve got me.” The accuser apologized and traded gas caps back with him.
Knowing I was going to put a lot of miles on it, I sprang for the extended warranty on my 2006 Dodge diesel pickup. At 191,000 miles and six weeks before the extended warranty expired, I needed a transmission. The warranty guy said I needed to document that that transmission had been serviced at least once before the current issue. I had changed the fluid and filter myself. I produced my record book from the console and showed the date and mileage, which was on the page with the other servicing and fueling records.
The warranty inspector said that’s all they needed, that it was impossible to fabricate a record book like that. My little record book saved me about $4,000 that day.
Are the premium wiper blades worth it? You can’t compare unless you write it down. Does synthetic motor oil improve fuel mileage? Without recording things, you’re just guessing.
