Rifleman wrote on Feb 6^th, 2008 at 11:08am:


You certainly are. The tyre pressure (for my company) is 200psi +- 5psi all around. That sort of pressure is more than enough to power the jack to raise the aircraft, and after all the aircraft industry has to do its bit for recycling and the environment . The nose wheels we pump up manually. They are also 200psi, but you do not have air mass to power the jack for very long. The nose is very easy to do by hand, however the mains are not. I have done it a few times and it is not something that I want to do again in a hurry. I did once jack up a BAe146 by hand. At the end there where three of us in the corner having a collective heart attack

Matt

Hi Matt...

Yup and if the wing falls off or the engine quits...bring it back...

I know most of the hangars I have been in have air compressors, (sometimes two or three) some times the tire bay will have it's own maintenance vehicle with an air compressor and I have seen them pull air pigs (look like a portable Bar BQ propane tank) behind the mules.

The "LOX" guys also have portable units and vehicles to go directly to the aircraft.

I have my own stationary air compressor here and a portable air pig I can throw in the back of the Land Rover if I need to.  They sure come in handy sometimes especially to remove birds/insect nests.   

Matt have you ever bought or used the small air compressor for cars, I think there are three types:
1- small can of air
2-electric air compressor you plug into a 12V vehicle outlet or cigarette
   lighter
3-the air compressor you have to remove a spark plug to use

and of course the one you mentioned I am sure we have all used for bicycles the old hand pump   

I do have a quick question for you though...hope you don't mind.

Why do they not use the heated style of ice remover for aircraft windscreens on cars/vehicles?
The back electric windshield deicer on a motor vehicle always works much better than the blown hot air from the front defroster.  It seems stupid, no one drives backwards at 120K yet that rear window defroster works 100 percent better.

On the Douglas DC3 we used windshield glycol with the wipers and the tank was behind the copilots bulkhead across from the galley.  It was just one step better than nothing.   
I don't know how many times we did NDB approaches (no VORs then) and had to touchdown looking out the side windows. (won't say anymore in case big brother is watching) 

Well Matt don't forget your rubber gloves...

Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug
P.S. can you bring me up to speed on some "Hangar Humour" or start another post with it Matt

Hi mate, great shots.
Just curious what type of brakes do these aircraft use? Are they simmilar to car brakes or are they carbon ceramic?

Craig. wrote on Feb 6^th, 2008 at 4:37pm:


Hi Craig

I can only speak from my present companies aircraft, but our 737 fleet are steel brakes and the Air Bus are carbon. I have also spannered on ATR, CRJ and BAe146. All have steel. Both have their plus points. The steel are (relatively) cheap, but don't last that (relatively) long. The carbon brakes last so long that I don't remember the last time I changed one. The down side, they are #§$%&/ expensive. The reason being, it takes 6 months to make a carbon brake. The discs have to sit under pressure in a autoclave for 6 months. The carbon matrix is formed by Chemical Vapour Infiltration. A vapour of gases (such as Carbon Tetrachloride) are introduced across the carbon discs and react to produce the brake disc......that is the short version

Matt

What a large brake,

carbon brakes also have the advantage to be "lighter" than steel brakes.
the 747-400 is also equipped with carbon brakes.

for jacking the plane on the ramp we usually use the nitrogen bottles we have in the vans to inflate the tires, when the tire pressure is too low to be used.

the last time I replaced a carbon brake: almost 8 years ago. but I work for a line maintenance station... it's more of a base mainteance job.

and to replace a wheel in a hurry, 15 min with 2 "good" guys when everything goes well....

nice pics, waiting for the next ones...