Pretty much sums it up. The week has seen temperatures top the century mark or be in the high nineties!
It is summer in the Mojave Desert.
Yesterday it hit 102 on the flight line and the day before it was 100. We got a reprieve today, only 97. All three days had that blast furnace wind with it. I take a half gallon jug out on the line with me full of ice water. I have to refill it. I also have a Powerade, Sour Melon Flavour during the morning to load up on the potassium and the other stuff to help me out.
The heat is amplified when standing next to a jet at start. The F-16 uses a Jet Fuel Starter to fire up the engine. Where the crew chief stands is in the exhaust flow of the JFS. It gets hot! Then the running engine makes things warm as well. I have areas on my calves that the hair is completely gone from and will never come back!
I can hardly wait for July and August!
This is one of the PRIME reasons the Ol' Man told me to stay away from airplanes. There's no such thing as a comfortable flightline... it's either hotter than Hades or colder than the proverbial witch's mammary glands.
ReplyDeleteI feel for ya.