Chat with a retired tech at the air show changed how I see old manuals

I was at the Oshkosh air show and got talking to a guy who worked on F-4 Phantoms in the 70s. He said, "We didn't have digital anything, just a paper manual and a gut feeling for what the circuit should sound like." It made me realize I rely too much on the fault codes and not enough on listening to the system. Anyone else find themselves trusting the old-school methods more sometimes?

2 comments

2 Comments

bailey.sandra21d ago

My grandpa always said a good mechanic can diagnose by sound alone.

troycarter21d ago

Sounds cool, but modern systems are too complex for just a gut feeling. You need the codes to even know where to start looking.