The Pit

Every nite we do a blow down of the area we work in. I do one side of the wing and the kid that works by me does the other side of the wing and we blow down in tandum. We use high pressure air nozzles to blow all the metal chips and debris down to the pit which is an area that supports the tooling jig between the first and second floor. Each tooling jig for a wing is 3 stories tall and I work on the 2nd story. There are 16 tooling jigs in Wing Majors so if you think about it there are 16 wings in my area but when you remember that 2 wings per airplane then there are 8 aircraft wings being made, right and left hand pairs. I start at one end of the area and by the end of the week I am at the other end of the area, so everyday I am on a different tooling jig. This week was the first time I got down into the pit to blow the pit out onto the main floor so the sweepers can sweep it all up.(Ive been letting the kid get down there!) I really didnt want to EVER get down in the pit, but we have to do it to get it cleaned out. I think I earned some more respect from the guys because not many women get in the pit. The entrance to the pit has moving platforms that move up or down so that the mechanics can work that area of the wing. If you are down there and someone moves that platform it isnt good. I was a little scared at first but it wasnt as bad as I thought it would be and now I have a new stripe!