When Rathcoole Co Dublin was at the pinnacle of the aviation business in Ireland, if not the world. Celebrating 40 Years 1977 / 2017 (Part 5)

Celebrating 40 Years 1977 / 2017 (Part 5)

Here I reflect over 1981 to 1991.

It's not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or when the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at the worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat. " Theodore Roosevelt.

                                                   For 33 years (1981 to 2014), Rathcoole Co Dublin was the home and the heartbeat of aircraft engine overhaul in Ireland. Now sadly closed, as the poem says, “Who at the worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly”. It is now into my fourth year since I left Ireland and Airmotive, and these days I often find myself reflecting on the failure and successes of Airmotive Ireland. Maybe it is nostalgia, but for 32 years of my life it was a major influenc, and I shared equally in its success and eventual failure.

                                                     In 1979 a separate location for engine overhaul was acquired on the outskirts of Dublin City. A $54 million investment was made by Aer Lingus, with the support of the IDA (Irelands Industrial Development Authority). In the new facility some 20 technical personnel, experienced in engine overhaul, transferred from Aer Lingus to Airmotive Ireland who together with additional key aviation personnel obtained on the open market, formed the technical nucleus of the new company. Additional specialist in Finance, Materials, Planning and Computers were recruited locally and the facility was formally opened by an Taoiseach, Charles J Haughey on April 9th 1981.

1981 / 1991 “Airmotive Ireland 10th Year Anniversary

                                                      The 80’s do you remember them ? The first 1 GB hard drive cost $40,000 and weighed over 500 pounds. The Microsoft Corporation invents the Windows system and the software engineer Bill Gates becomes the richest man in the world.

My apprenticeship was now behind me and I was a fully-fledged mechanic and working in aviation. The first ten years were full of sport, new aircraft engine types, marriage and children. Airmotive Ireland was a perfect mix for me. A new company of around a couple of hundred or so, young men and women in their twenty’s. Sport was a big influence in our lives, and I am not sure if Airmotive Ireland encouraged us by intention or by accident, but for the first ten years, in lots of ways, sport was a huge part of our working life. You name a sport and we had a talent in the company, such as;

Camogie. Rose Merriman, who won three camogie All Ireland medals.

Motor Car Racing, Dave Waters, who competed at Formula VW Motor Racing

League of Ireland Soccer, Paul McDermott who was a defender or midfielder who represented Shelbourne making 163 league appearances and scoring 13 goals from 1983/84-1990/91 and Bohemians amongst others during his career in the league of Ireland. He signed for Bohemians in 1991 and won the FAI Cup with Bohs in 1992. We also had many other fine soccer players. Too many to mention here, and their teams enjoyed many fine success’s.

Dublin League Soccer Many guys played and helped keep the soccer team going, such as (Zippo) Mark Nolan, Jim Devereux, Tony Cronin, Gerry O’Byrne, Paul McCormack and many more.

Paralympics Swimming, we had Gerry Dunne who claimed four golds, silver and three bronze, as well as setting world record times in the 100m butterfly and the 100m back stroke in 1984 and again in 1988. Despite that success, the fantastic performances have not guaranteed the same recognition and coverage that the exploits of other athletes would years later, but certainly laid the groundwork. 

Athletics (Dublin City Marathon/BHAA League Races). People who stick out in my mind are Joe Rankin, David Humphreys, Willie Boyle, PJ Burke and Richard Barrett. They were heavily involved in the promotion of athletics in the company. If you read the attached news letter from 1982, you will see the names of 10 employees who competed in the 1982 Dublin Marathon.

GAA Gaelic Football   There were some class Gaelic football players, skillful fit and strong men like Pat McManus, John & Declan Dooley, John Murphy, Ciaran Gillen, Mick O’Connor, Tom Holton, Brendan Stynes and Mick Noctor and all a joy to play football with. The GAA scene was very active with many big nights and successes. The highlight was winning the Dublin Championship and participating in the Leinster final to the eventual All Ireland Business Champions, we were that good. The driving force behind the successful teams were Paddy Doyle & Gerry Henry.

Basketball. Basketball tournaments were also very popular with guys like Mick Byrne and Brian Connolly particularly talented.

Cycling Team “Dublin to Belfast”.  After an RTE TV documentary about Our Lady’s Children Hospital, Robbie Earl led a group of 17 cyclist to raise funds for the hospital. It was decided to cycle from Dublin to Belfast and back. Joe McGrath, Myles Maguire and Kevin McCann were the stand out cyclists from those days, while the rest just borrowed bikes and did the journey just for Craic (fun) and charity. Big Jim Sexton and A McCawley were the backup team mechanics. 

Camera Club, Dave Murphy, Willie Heffernan and Peter Stafford.

Snooker Club, Brendan Galvin, Gerry Creegan, Brendan O’Donovan.

Sports & Social Club. We also had a bustling Golf Society, and a Pitch & Putt Society. The Sports and Social Club played a massive part also in our lives and so many guys from Brian O’Connor to Kevin McCann worked tirelessly for us. Not forgetting guys like Joe Cronin R.I.P, who was a great work mate and friend and sadly passed away far too early, while out running in a 5 Mile race. The Sports and Social Club were fantastic. I loved the summer and winter 5 a sides indoor and outdoor, fantastic fun. The Children’s parties were legendary and the Christmas Dinner Dance was a night we all looked forward to. From quiz nights in the local pubs to family field days - they did it all.

                                       So back to the day job of building engines. Our initial engine was the PW JT3D and great men like Joe Wellwood developed this engine, supported in those days by Larry Walsh, Joe Cronin, Jimmy Homes and Tommy Brennan, just some of the names. Around November 1981 the PW JT8D came on stream and with it, my chance to join the company in January 1982. The PW JT8D was looked after by Joe McCormack and Dick Mooney (both ex Aer Lingus). 1981 saw our Test Cell commissioned and guys like Des Gray and Pat McDonagh were the driving force there for many years. The PW JT9D was introduced in 1983. The team included Derek Cairns (ex Aer Lingus), Stephen Hyland, Sean Quinn and Con Kelly. The revenue earned from these engines were a big factor to Airmotive survival and the 80’s were complete with CFM56-3 in 1986. The main characters driving production in the 80’s were Harry Reilly and Tom Meaney (both ex Aer Lingus).

                                                                    The 80’s also saw us do our first Mobile Engine Service trips, or as it was called in those days (AST). I was lucky to be on the first one to Frankfurt with Derek Beatty and Dick Mooney. I remember the excitement of being chosen to go do this work. The job was a leaking oil filter, on a JT8D for German company Aero Llyod. Somebody had overtightened the stud with a vice grips. We had to change the gearbox and as the engine was in the horizontal this was not easy, but we improvised by using a fork truck to lift the gearbox into place, driven by Dick Mooney. This was my first taste of Mobile Service work and so began a passion for work and travel for me. The paradox to this first mobile service job was that I also would do the last AST trip for Airmotive in 2014, also a leaking gearbox this time on a CFM56 engine in Heathrow in 2014, this time with Mick O’Connor and Conor Kennedy.

Soon after our trip to Frankfurt, a second trip came up to Cyprus and the team was Donald Healy, Pat McDonagh, Jimmy (The Hoover) Holmes and Joe Wellwood. Later in the 90’s I would go on to work closely with Joe Wellwood and Jimmy Holmes on the CFM 56 engines - two of the very best people and friends I have ever worked with. They had an amazing passion to get the job done. These trips always had funny stories and many books could be written about the adventures. For my first trip the big surprise was when Dick pulled us into his office a few days after we returned and made us sign a travel form. Derek and I were very surprised at Dick. Then he gave us lots of money. When we asked what the money was for, he replied it’s your daily per diem and to cover your travel and hotel costs. We were very pleasantly shocked as we thought we had to pay from our own pockets to work in a different country for the company, and I remember going to Ciaran Gillen and asking him for his dictionary to look up the words “Per Diem” as I had never heard these fancy words. Each trip had it's funny stories. The Hoover often told me of landing in Cyprus, and a very long taxi drive with the four lads plus tools and smelly socks. I can still hear him laughing telling the story.

Dan Air and British Midlands Airlines (BMA) in the UK was a big customer for us and we were often in the UK for mobile service such as, C1 & C2 Fan Blade Change. Every time a team went, they got a shopping list and we would take a detour to Basinstoke if we were working down in Lashing Airfield. The reason was at the time there was no Argos in Ireland and they stocked very affordable products that you could not afford to buy in Ireland. I can remember great trips with teams like Larry Last & Carl Platt, Eamon Kelly & Paul McCormack. Great days.

The Aer Lingus contacts in the early 80’s had not materialized into hard contracts and we were now facing our first wobble as a company. Oliver Boden 1983 / 1986 was the Managing Director and he helped secure a big contract with the former Yugoslav Airline Aviogenex. This airline, prior to the breakup of Yugoslavia, was the busiest charter airline in the country, handling over half a million passengers per year in the late 80’s. At the time they had five Boeing 727 and five 737. Their work helped us through the 80’s. Also like Airmotive Ireland, they closed down in 2015. To balance the books Airmotive were also involved in engine leasing and engine trading and it helped to keep the company afloat. By early 1989 Airmotive was to further evolve with the opening of PW International with a 45% stake in the company, built on adjacent land to the parent company in Rathcoole. The new company PWAI was based on 64,000 ft. 2. and repaired JT9D and JT8D Cases for the European, Africa and Middle East market. By now only 7 % of Airmotive Ireland revenue was coming from Aer Lingus and with a turnover of $130 million, 48 Airline customers in 32 countries. There was no doubt by the end of the 80’s Rathcoole Co Dublin was at the pinnacle of the aviation business in Ireland, if not the world.

Jimmy Phibbs