There is a time in every aircraft owner’s life when they hear an utterance that sends a chill through their entire body—and their checkbook. “Hey, boss. I think we have a problem with Four Six Echo.” Mechanics typically identify aircraft by the last three places of the N-number, and any A&P worth their salt will always use the phonetic alphabet.
In our example, Four Six Echo is the company’s Beechcraft King Air scheduled for a trip to close a big deal with a client in Oklahoma. Upon doing the walkaround, the copilot noticed a pool of hydraulic fluid on the ramp just next to one of the main tires. Not good. Hydraulic fluid belongs in the airplane’s actuators, reservoirs, and hydraulic lines, not on the ramp.
