I was once hired to go to FL to help an aircraft broker demo a jet to a potential buyer. (I had a flat-fee for such work which included expenses and per diem)
When we were all aboard and had our taxy clearance…the right engine would not start. (it was an old late-‘60s Rolls Royce Viper engine.) I shut back down and we all got out of the airplane… and the co-pilot/broker and client watched me open the right engine cowling, take a wooden wheel chock, and whack the starter/generator on the bottom of the engine. (This old jet had been sitting in Florida humidity for several months and it was not uncommon for relays, starter-brush/commutator surfaces to corrode until they were re-energized.)
We all re-boarded the jet and it started right-up, we taxied out, took off for the short demo-flight and then landed at Lakeland where the aircraft was to undergo some minor service before delivery to the new owner.
A week later I received a letter from the broker demanding to know why I added $400 to my invoice for “starter work”…. as he’d seen what I’d done and “it didn’t take much to “whack it” with a block of wood”
I replied to him that old saying I’d learned early in my aviation career…. “You owe me $400 ..not for whacking it….. but for knowing WHERE to Whack It!”
(He paid my invoice.)
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