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"Military Aircraft Mechanic Practical Jokes \nFolks seem to be really worried about AI. Yes, it can do some amazing things, but it falls desperately short in other areas. In this instance I wanted to see what it said about aircraft mechanic practical jokes, and quite truthfully, AI is as dumb as a box of rocks on this topic. The output is below for your reading enjoyment and then some real life ones will be included after the AI insanity.\n\nWARNING: Do not attempt any of the AI practical jokes! Some of them are extremely dangerous! I shouldn’t have to say this, but AI isn’t the only dumb as a box of rocks thing on the face of the earth.\n&lt;Begin AI&gt;\nThe Lighter Side of Aviation: Aircraft Mechanic Practical Jokes\nThe aviation industry is known for its strict safety protocols, rigorous training, and a culture of professionalism. However, amidst the seriousness of this high-stakes environment, there exists a lighter side - a tradition of practical jokes that aircraft mechanics play on one another. These pranks, often harmless and good-natured, serve as a means to alleviate stress, strengthen camaraderie, and inject a dose of humor into an otherwise demanding profession.\nThe Origins of Aircraft Mechanic Practical Jokes\nPractical jokes among aircraft mechanics have roots that stretch back to the early days of aviation. As pioneering aviators took to the skies in the early 20th century, the mechanics responsible for maintaining and repairing these aircraft often found creative ways to lighten the mood in their workshops. These lighthearted pranks helped ease the pressure of working with cutting-edge technology and potentially dangerous machinery.\nThe Toolbox of Pranks\nAircraft mechanics have an arsenal of classic pranks, each designed to elicit a chuckle rather than cause harm. Here are some of the most enduring and beloved practical jokes in the world of aircraft maintenance: (Again – don’t do these!)\nThe Phantom Tools: One of the oldest tricks in the book involves temporarily hiding a coworker's essential tools. Watching a fellow mechanic's puzzled expression as they search in vain for a misplaced wrench or screwdriver is a time-honored tradition.\nThe Grease Zapper: This prank involves applying a small amount of non-conductive grease to the back of a colleague's hand. When they attempt to turn a live circuit breaker or switch, they experience a harmless shock, usually followed by laughter from their co-workers.\nThe Duct Tape Overload: Duct tape is an essential tool in any mechanic's arsenal. Experienced pranksters may cover a colleague's toolbox or workspace in an excessive amount of duct tape, requiring them to undertake the comical task of unwrapping their tools.\nThe Mysterious Rattle: This prank involves placing a small object, like a pebble, inside an aircraft component that's known for producing an occasional mysterious rattle. The ensuing confusion as the mechanic tries to locate the source of the sound can be highly amusing.\nThe Skyward Screw: This prank involves strategically placing a screw in a location that ensures it falls out at an opportune time, often during a test run or a critical inspection. The ensuing scramble to identify the missing screw can be both amusing and entertaining.\nThe Safety Wire Fandango: Safety wire is a crucial tool in aviation maintenance. Tying a series of knots in a spool of safety wire or creating a \"booby-trap\" that releases an excessive amount of wire with the flick of a switch can lead to a comical tangle.\n \nThe Role of Practical Jokes in the Workplace\nWhile these practical jokes may seem frivolous, they serve a crucial purpose in the aviation maintenance environment. They provide a release valve for the high-stress situations that mechanics face daily. By sharing a laugh, colleagues can foster a sense of camaraderie and mutual understanding, which ultimately contributes to a more productive and harmonious working environment.\n&lt;End AI&gt;\nAny aircraft mechanic will agree that AI knows nothing about aircraft maintenance. Even the duct taping the toolbox one would only be used against a mechanic who had committed an unpardonable sin, like stealing coworkers’ lunches for the past two months and finally getting caught.\nAgain – don’t do any of the AI listed items! \n \nReal Aircraft Mechanic Practical Jokes\nHere is a list of the more common ones for your literary pleasure. Now some folks might get irritated that I’m giving away the secrets and forewarning the newbies. In all reality that probably won’t happen much because the newbies won’t know to go look for a list of practical jokes. The main advantage here is that maybe there will be a few new ones that you haven’t heard about and can unleash them on unsuspecting victims. Most are self-explanatory or easy to figure out, so I won’t go into detail on most of them. If you still don’t understand how the joke works you can Google most of them.\n\nSafety wiring driver’s seatbelt.\nCrack in the jet engine intake.\nGet the keys to the aircraft.\nSend to stores/supply for a long weight (wait).\nCross country hub caps.\nThe ID10T form from support.\nSend to medics for fallopian tubing.\nChecking for soft spots on the armor.\nPumping the launch bar, or tow bar on -60 to pump up the JFS.\nHand crank the APU.\nInlet echo checks where you yell in the inlet and listen for echo.\nK9P, send to security forces to get some.\nBig zip ties on expediter or Pro-supers truck driveshaft.\nTelling them to get an exceptional release spring for the pilot’s seat.\nMy fav was pouring water out of the troop door while sheet metal was under the plane in a steady stream. I’d go AHHH, they’d scream and cuss, we all had a good time.\nGet the tester for checking the voltage of the vortex generators.\nFind the T.O or part number for the sphincter valve.\nFind the clock circuit breaker for the wind up clock.\nSpool of flightline.\nSend to get the F.U.P.A “fastener unstuck power assembly” aka Johnson bar.\nPanel or wire stretching kit.\nGet the inverted jacks.\nSending a new guy to get a can of p.e.p.s.I. or PEP51.\nGo catch and tag a Quality Air Sample in the hangar or engine exhaust sample.\nClap on Light-All’s.\nCan of A. I. R.\nFuse repair kit.\nPE-N15 kit.\nAluminum magnet.\nSalute the aircraft as they break overhead.\nCase of Pneumatic fluid from supply.\nTelling the new guys first time on the carrier we all meet after shift in the bowling alley below the fantail.\nTach generator sling.\nFind PRICKE8 that works.\nPumping the telescoping step on the side of a H-60 to service the IGB.\nJumping on the wings to seat the sump drains.\nGo get F.L.I.R. ball juice. (Hawaiian punch in a paper cup) With gloves and tongs.\nStabilator slime light fluid.\nPneumatic Flashlight.\nBest one I've seen. We need to install the winter tires. They're stashed in the hangar basement. You need to get the keys and have QC do the paperwork because big army made them serialized.\nAsking the squadron commander for their Christmas bonus.\nHad guys call local Captain D's restaurant (Capt. Deese) about their security paperwork.\nSafety wire boarding ladder to a grounding point prior to recovery.\nGetting coolant for the Abrams.\nCatching a bucket of rotor wash.\nSending someone for a \"rubber magnet\" during a specialist red ball.\nSprinkling sea dye powder on people in the rain (turns them various colors).\nLeft handed speed handle.\nWe convinced a new guy that he had to honk the Zamboni every time he turned in the hangar.\nBrake rider for a tow must strap into the seat.\nJOAP the hydro carts.\nGo grab some safety wire holes!\nSweep up the bugs at night that gather around the light all because they are a FOD hazard.\nTold a new airman at the time, section chief needed a stapler and this yellow folder that was not to be opened. Inside the folder, was a piece of paper that said, \"give me all your money, or I'll beat you with this stapler.\nHigh speed missile wax.\nTake a black grease pencil to the earmuffs on someone’s headset.\nChanging out the argon bottle on Aim-9 if bottle hisses run.\nGo to finance for overtime pay when we would go on 12s.\nCutting hair and placing in a baggie with their ID for Bio survey.\nTurn all the ratchets off so the batteries don’t die.\nSent a new troop to machine shop with a .032 roll of safety wire to get machined it down to .016.\nBox of RADAR contacts.\nEcho testing -60 hoses.\nA guy in C5 refurb left his top on the back of a seat where we did morning briefs for 5 weeks. The hangar has a bunch of drop lights from the ISO days that come down from the hangar ceiling, hooked it up and reeled it to the top. It stayed there for 2 weeks on display.\nMake the new guys carry a radio and a flashlight and walk up to the tower. Call the tower and request a light check and turn on the flashlight. \"Tower Egress, requesting light check\" \" Egress tower, we see you\".\nSpeedy Dry in your Buddy’s parka hood when he’s not looking. Goes nicely down your shirt collar when you go outside and pull your hood up.\nCall the clinic to schedule your pap smear.\nHad an airman go to CTK to get a density check for a hammer. At which the custodian slammed the hammer on the counter and gave it back to the airman. Density check good.\nGo to supply and ask for the G-String to complete an Over-G inspection!\nNeed a sample of dirt from every padeye to check for possible soil contamination issues from leaks.\nRadar check, hey grab that toolbox, get in front of the aircraft and run back and forth.\nShake the spray can of paint until the ball stops.\nMy favorite was when we had a MT kid come ask support for the P.E.P.S.I the MT shift leads made this kid come down in full gear I’m talking heat treat face shield, heat resistant gloves and coat. We gave the PEPSI to him in a cooler marked corrosive and explosive lol he carried it back to the shop with a set of forging tongs.\nBorescope adaptor for the oil cooler.\nSending someone for a BA-1100N with a ST ring (balloon with a string).\nSend them to parts supply and check the IPB for a TF-34-GE100A exhaust muffler bearing. Make sure they use XB3 when clearing IMDS.\nTelling them to go get a specimen cup of dihydrogen monoxide from support.\nWe sent a guy to electronics backshop and had them hook an alligator jumper lead between his eyeglass arm and finger to see if he grounded properly. Had him walking around with tag hanging from glasses saying failed.\nWarming up the pitot tubes by grabbing them and stroking them back and forth. (A10) Make sure you use both hands fast and stand in front to check for FOD.\nThe Hymen rebuild kit from CTK. We actually had something to check out.\nSending a FNG to his ObGyn appointment. Training manager overhead FNG claim he was unprankable. Got the clinic in on it, FNG realized something was up when they told him to put his legs in the stirrups.\nWatched E&amp;E convince the new guy you had to pump the -60 tow bar 10-15 times to prime it.\nSend to NDI for steel toe boot check.\nSend the new guy out with the LOX pan in front of the jet to \"calibrate the radar.\"\nWe had a new 3 level convinced that when towing the aircraft that we needed him to be the guidon. We sent him to the commander’s office to get the squadron flag, proceeded to tow the jet with him being guidon in front of the tug. All the way down the flight line out to the run spot while it was snowing. He gets back in the bread truck after the tow, we are dying laughing, tell him it’s a joke and he actually argued with us saying it was a real thing!!\nHave the FNG blow into the G suit hose for leak checks after strapping in the pilot.\nScaring the pigeons out of either paint barn or wash rack. Give them two pieces of metal to run around with and banging together in the hangar with the doors open.\nOil cooled fuses.\nMaking the apprentice responsible for keeping the windsock pumped up. We told him the valve was at the bottom of the pole.\nSound powered telephone check (relief tube).\nTwo newbs walking around with a coat hanger draped with tin foil checking for radon. Was told if it deflected one way or another to document it, they had a notebook.\nRemoving all the heavy (cold) Winter air out of AGE being prepped for an exercise and put in the lighter (hot) Summer air so they make weight.\nPumping the JFS while someone has the dump valves pressed.\nCorner attachment for the buffer.\nMissed call you need to return from Major Storm at Weather.\nPhone physicals were the best. You could get them to hold the phone to their chest for their pulse and then get them to do pushups or wind sprints to test them after exertion.\nHanding them grey primer and a bag of sand and telling them it’s 2 part non-skid.\nPush-start MC-1A Highpac compressors. Also rinsing out their spent dehydrators.\nWe wrote a note on our board that said Col Sanders was trying to get ahold of one of our new guys about his security clearance and to call him back on his cell. We then wrote the number for the local KFC.\n180 day rivet count on an F-16 A model intake to check for loose rivets.\nHad a guy perform his \"initial urinalysis\", had him walking around the unit with a JOAP bottle of piss above his shoulder to all the section chiefs and Pro Supers’ office trying to find who was in charge of urinalysis that week. Super ripped him a new one for not having a filled out a 350 tag with it.\nO-Ring elasticity checks or find the part number on the O-ring.\nZulu watch from Supply.\nSend the new kids out for a can of High Frequency Cleaner.\nTell the new C-130 crew chief to spin the #2 prop until the APU starts because they’re splined together.\nWe used to send guys into benchstock for a tube of \"PFM\". We'd taken a tube of bright pink glitter glue, made a fake rainbow sticker &amp; chemical haz label for it calling it \"Pure Fucking Magic\" with some made up mil spec and MSDS info.\nGo to Medical and get a bag of oxygen to top up the jet.\nWe put masking tape on a bottle of leak check and labeled it N1 blade wash, we would tell new airmen to go to CTK and grab some blade wash then get in the inlet and clean bugs off the N1 blades.\nArm rotations when doing an engine run so the guy running knows which way the engine is spinning.\nFor easier removal of the circular panel that the F-16's V&amp;P valves are under, send them to the tool crib and ask for the hole extractor.\nAfter a mission, one of our tankers came back with both tail cone navigation lights burnt out. We told a new airman that they were taxi brake lights and after changing the bulbs we needed him to do an ops check. After putting him in the seat pumping the brakes for 20-30 minutes, laughing our asses off, we had him come downstairs. He could hardly walk because his calves were so pumped up. We did tell him they were just navigation lights and that he got, got.\nMaking the new guy align the ILS system by standing at the front of the jet with marshaling wands doing stupid movements.\nOnce convinced someone to go to the AVI shop to get an A/C battery for a Huey.\nWe set guys up to be \"weather watchers\". We put them up on a B-1 stand at the end of the ramp with water, sunscreen, a radio, goggles, and a pilot tube cover. We told them they had to use the pitot tube cover as a windsock, monitor the sky for clouds, and give each pilot taxiing by a thumbs up or thumbs down if the weather was good enough to fly, and then salute each plane as it taxied past!\nWe also set a new kid up at Spang. He PCS'd in shortly before a UCI so all he knew was inspection prep. We always launched from inside a HAS (shelter) on the first go. We gave him an unused piddle pack that had been laying around and told him he had to wear it over his mouth and nose to filter the exhaust in the HAS.\n\nMany thanks to all the FB Maintainer Humor readers who supplied these. I'd list you all by name but most likely you prefer anonymity. We couldn't have done it without you!\nWe hope you have seen a few that you haven’t used yet, and your morale is very important to Challenge Coin Nation. To that end we have a great selection of morale patches and stickers. Or you can design your own.\nChallenge Coin Nation Home\nChallenge Coin Nation Morale Patches\nChallenge Coin Nation Custom Morale Patches\nChallenge Coin Nation Stock Morale Patches\nChallenge Coin Nation Officially Retired Morale Patch\nMaintainer Nation Blog\n \n e\n \n "
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