I have had many interesting experiences in aviation, as an Avionics Technician. One very interesting experience I had, was in the mid '80's when I was working at Oakland-Pontiac Airport, Pontiac Michigan. The Doobie Brothers were doing a concert tour and had concerts scheduled at Pine Knob and also at another location closer to Detroit, the name of the second location escapes me at the moment. The second location was closer to Willow Run Airport, so they would shuttle back and forth between the two, depending on where they needed to be.
They developed a problem with the engine instrumentation and their mechanic was having a problem isolating the cause. The maintenance people at the FBO didn't have a clue either, so as I was an avionics technician and a skilled diagnostician, my boss offered my services. I worked with their mechanic and we isolated the problem to a burnt out resistor. I obtained the proper replacement part and was able to get them back in service in time to make their flight back down to Willow Run. They were grateful for my assistance and gave me tickets to their concert, so my wife and I went to the concert and had a great time. Their mechanic and manager were impressed with my work and ability to diagnose and fix the problem and actually offered me a job with them in California to work for them as a technician. I passed on the job as it would not be really in my field of specialty and I had certain career goals. I wonder from time to time what it would have been like if I had gone to work for them.
An interesting fact about the Doobie Brothers, is when they are on the road like that, they didn't eat out at restaurants and so forth. They actually had a person go shopping and then they would fix their meals on board the aircraft. All together it was an interesting experience and one that I enjoyed greatly, as I have also always been a big fan of the Doobie Brothers and still am to this day.
Stay tuned for my next post where I will share my experience with "Rocket Man".
