More national grid pictures

[bren guzzi]

Now I've a bit of " time at home " and I've figured out how to upload pictures from the iPad ...
( apple up date allows me to do it direct from iPad now )

Thought I'd share some pictures from when I worked for the national grid.... I was with them for about 15 years.....

[Bighorn Ape]

wow, that picture at the top is badass!

[bren guzzi]

I'm the guy on the left in the basket. " excuse my back "

We don't work off the helicopter skid in Europe ( not allowed ) we call it long lineing

[wantafastz28]

More pics!

[loodvig]

How does that long lineing work when its windy?

[bren guzzi]

How does that long lineing work when its windy?

It doesn't. we were putting up bird diverters that day so we were using that basket... Normally we use a different one... Where they drop us on the line and leave us there... And pick us up when finished.. Anything over 15 or 20 mph and we don't fly... So it was only really used in the summer... Spent most of the winter training... Kinda limited what we could do due to the design of the towers in the UK.. we could only work on the line... No insulator changing .. So we changed spacers, and did conductor repairs " mid span " etc etc... There were a few places we did a lot of work.. Mainly inter connectors between power stations.. Hard to get an outage on these sections..

I gave up the live line team because it ment being away from home nearly all year... Staying in hotels. And weeks some times waiting on the wind to drop... BOREDOM USED TO SET IN..

we were doing a job up in Newcastle and the pilot left his key on the table at the hotel. We all went up to his room and put on one of his shirts each.. Orderd soup and spilled it all over his shirts..
He wasn't happy !!!!!!!!!! The next day on the way back from the job with two of us in the basket he DUNKED US IN A LAKE... like a tea bag.. Soaked us right up to the neck... And then flew like a lunatic back to the refuelling point...

Revenge is sweet....

[T-Man]

Some guys just wont live with a soup stained shirt, wow. Now I see why you wear helmets, not for the fall (they would be useless) for the horsing around if you piss off the pilot!

[bren guzzi]

Most dangerous thing in the world T man.. A BORED LINESMAN.....

[Bighorn Ape]

So you were on the barehand crew? That is one of my goals before I retire. Thats pretty cool! Any more pics on the wire?

[bren guzzi]

So you were on the barehand crew? That is one of my goals before I retire. Thats pretty cool! Any more pics on the wire?

Still looking through pictures... I've boxes of them ( 32 years worth ) I know they frowned upon us taking cameras up when we were live line working.. But I know I've a few around,,,... I've done nearly all types of line work. Over the years... It never seems that good while your doing it... But it will be great to look back on when I'm sitting on my porch in the rocking chair....

One piece of advice to all linesmen on this forum....

TAKE PHOTOS AS FREQUENTLY AS POSSIBLE... ( helps your memory when ya turn into an old
f@rt like me. ).... And ya never know when it will come to an end,,