Engineer flies 'sideways' Published March 28, 2012 By Nick DeCicco 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- When Tech. Sgt. Steven Foley meets with past flight engineers, they compare their experiences. The 22nd Airlift Squadron flight engineer said the technological advancements of the career field make the retirees and veterans laugh. "They chuckle at the automation," he said. Flight engineers and others from throughout the history of the 22nd AS will descend on Travis next week for the squadron's 70th anniversary celebration. Though he said he thinks the career field may one day become obsolete -- many commercial airliners have phased the job out of their flight crews due to technological advancements -- Foley said engineers have a camaraderie. "Flight engineers are a different breed of people," Foley said with a laugh. "There's still a lot of pride." The job is a third position on the flight deck, a place behind the pilots of the airplane. They're the mechanical experts on board, Foley said, spending several years in school learning how the plane works and what to do in the event of an emergency. "We say we 'fly sideways,' " Foley said, referring to the perpendicular position of the desk in relation to the pilots' seats. They also keep track of essential statistical data -- how much distance is needed to stop or takeoff in a given aircraft, for example. Compared to engineers of past, who had to do many of these calculations by hand, technology has trimmed hours of arithmetic down to a few minutes. "They used to have to dial in fuel mixtures back in the day," Foley said. "A good flight engineer can make or break a flight." This is especially true with the C-5 Galaxies, a fleet of aircraft which has shown signs of wear now that it is more than 40 years old. Foley said engineers can work around issues or figure out what needs to be done in order to get a plane and its crew back home safely. "The flight engineer is the cornerstone of problem solving," Foley said. "The plane is always a challenge." Foley has participated in missions which transferred satellites for NASA, delivered decommissioned rockets to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and flew families over the Pacific. "We do it all," he said. The mission closest to his heart was participating in humanitarian relief missions after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast region, he said. "It's cool to know you were part of history," Foley said. "It's something I'll be proud to tell my grandchildren about." He said events such as that help put his job in perspective, giving him an opportunity to step back and remember that what might seem routine to him or other members of the 22nd AS are really historic events. Foley said the difference between officers and enlisted Airmen is blurred with the 22nd. "There's a line that you don't cross, of course," he said. "There's a respect there, but they view enlisted different here than anywhere in the Air Force. We're together 24/7. We eat together. We bunk together. It's a lot closer work relationship." Foley said many of his instructors were crew chiefs in the '70s when the C-5s were new, the type of individuals who will visit for next week's 70th anniversary festivities. He said those instructors care deeply about teaching modern flight engineers properly. "There's a lot of pride in the training they give," he said. "They keep passing it on because they want to make sure the job is done right."