2nd Line Servicing
2nd Line Servicing
After being on 1st line servicing on Venoms for some months, I was transferred to second line servicing of Meteors. All the work was done in the hanger and all the trades worked on the aircraft at the same time except when it wasn’t possible.

All the cannons would be removed and transferred to another workshop and replaced by a newly serviced set which were fitted into the plane. Once the new set of cannons had been fitted, the armourers would harmonise the four cannons and the gunsight. All the shells from the cannons should converge at about 250 yards ( I think) and the aircraft had to be jacked up until it was level, as it would be in flight. Then markers would be set up on a frame at a shorter distance to enable the cannons to be adjusted to the correct setting. The aircraft had to be aligned with the marker board. Then a special instrument, usually called a “shuftiscope” by the armourers was inserted into the mouth of the cannon and the gun mount was adjusted so that the crosshairs in the “shuftiscope” lined up with the appropriate marker for that cannon. This was repeated with the other three cannons. When they were all adjusted correctly, the gunsight in the cockpit was adjusted. This operation could take quite a long time and the armament would be tested after the plane servicing was complete.

The armourers also had to service the ejection seat. This consisted of removing the three cartridges which fired the seat from the plane and replacing them. When the pilot enters the cockpit, he removes the safety pin from the top of the seat and places it in the container at the side of the seat, this pin had to be replaced at the top of the seat when the aircraft landed again. A shear pin now holds the seat in the aircraft. If the pilot has to activate the ejection seat, he has to jettison the cockpit cover and pull the blind above his head over his face, This operation activates the primary cartridge which releases a small explosive which starts the seat  rising and in turn activates the secondary cartridge which ejects the seat from the aircraft. As the seat moves up, it activates the drogue gun which fires a drogue parachute which blows out along with the seat and causes the seat to remain vertical as it falls towards the ground. If the seat has been activated above a certain height, the seat will be allowed to fall until it reaches a safe altitude at which time a barometric sensor will push the main parachute and the pilot from the seat and the seat will fall away and the pilot will parachute to the ground. The reason for the last part is that the pilot would have difficulty breathing at high altitude so he is allowed to fall rapidly before the parachute is activated. At this service any modifications that were due to take place, would be done. This might be modifications to the bomb release mechanism, etc. When all the service schedule had been done, the armourers who carried out the various works, would sign them off in the armourer’s office and also in the main service office. 

Then, when all the others had finished their part of the service, the plane would be taken up for a test flight and any faults checked by the appropriate section. This was quite an interesting place to work but there was no rush and no excitement as there was on 1st line servicing.
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