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Heard a pilot at DFW say he never worries about the APU, but our shop just pulled a 400-hour unit for a full rebuild.
I was grabbing coffee near gate A12 last Tuesday and overheard a captain telling his first officer that the APU is basically a backup and he never thinks about it. We had a Gulfstream G550 in that same week where the APU made metal at 423 hours, way under TBO. It made me realize pilots see it as a button, but we see the log pages and the wear. How do you guys explain critical system maintenance to flight crew who don't see the shop floor?
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noran215mo ago
Remember that G-IV my buddy worked on? They had an APU fire warning on the roll, turned out the duct was just packed with carbon from short cycles. Crew said it was fine the day before.
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grayperez5mo ago
Log pages tell a different story than the button.
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angelafisher4mo ago
But what if the button was right and the log pages missed it? @grayperez, sometimes a sensor catches a real problem that hasn't built up enough to leave a trace in the books yet. That carbon buildup had to start somewhere, and a warning light might be the first sign.
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