Live-line/bare-hand

[Valigator]

check this out, these guys are wild....we all went together for mini-lobster season....their company is facinating to me....

http://www.usaairmobile.com/

[tooldummy]

Val,
Those guys have a lot of nerve. The company I work for had some guys do barehand work, but from a bucket truck. I don't know if your friends told you about their work, but the reason for barehand work is the voltage is so high you can't protect a lineman from it, so they go the other way and isulate the lineman from ground. When you do the barehand thing, they actually "bond on" to the wire, which means they are totally insulated from ground, but in series with the wire. Much like a bird sitting on a electrical wire. They say that as you come close to the wire, the hair will stand up on your arm from the static around the wire. When you take the cable that you bond on with, which is fitted to a special suit that they wear, the electricity will start arcing to it. And then these guys are in a helecopter, which has risks of it's own. I'm afraid if everyone depended on me to do it, we would still be reading from candles. While I was in Chicago a couple of years ago I was lucky enough to see the helecopter crews doing some maintenance on some towers and it was pretty neat. I didn't get to see the the particular show the link talked about, but the History Channel had another show a few years ago about power linemen that I really enjoyed, and it touched on the helecopter barehand technique.

[Valigator]

I am glad you got to see that....I just thought that was one of the coolest things I had ever seen...and there are only a couple of companys in the world who do this......my guy had been frogging with these people for over a year....I met them once or twice in the swamp...but didnt pay much attention to what they did....then I saw the History Channel program a while ago.....I thought darn those guys look familiar...then my guy said..."Val, thats Mike and Phil's company....I got to see their office the opening night of mini-season...we all met there...lots of pictures on the walls....and I got a better understanding of just what they did....anyway....if you ever have the chance to watch the show...it is great....they even gave me this great Cap....

[multibeard]

Val

I saw that program. Just watching the program gave me a queezy stomach.

I do not like heights. I had a hard time even walking up to the railing at Niagra Falls.

[Nulle]

Thats pretty darn cool ! Kind of funny what some folks do for a living.

[Valigator]

Oh you mean like some folks playin with Mountain Lions?


Hows the Rally?

[skeeter@ccia.com]

I think he means when you see someone walkin down the street...ya never know what they do or have done....ahhh like the little lady that smells like chanel and ?...gunpowder and has gotor skin under her painted nails....lol...my cousin installed the lids on tanks like those in oil refineries....made huge $$ doing so...cause noone wanted to get out there in mid air and bolt things together....yea....he walks funny too because he has some things bigger than the norm....