Heads Up and Housekeeping

General stuff that gets thrown about when Pilots shoot the Breeze.
ozloadie
Gold Wings
Gold Wings
Posts: 54
Joined: Oct 2010

Heads Up and Housekeeping

Postby ozloadie » Tue Sep 23, 2014 4:21 pm

This would be a good time in the year to budget some time and attention to some basic airmanship details. Change of season, better wx, increased client and usage rates, holiday period and tourists approaching is going to pull attention and priorities in all directions leaving small details to be ignored or slip through the cracks "until later".

Take some time out to go over your airframes personally,

Pull out the boots and lockers - check for cracks and discolouration on the floor and walls.

Open the boxes and containers and tool wraps to see what is actually there compared to what should be there: if not already present, print up an inventory to remain in the container (audit, and FOD prevention).

Have a physical look under all of the seats, under the floor mats and in the back and side pockets - I found the maintenance release under a front floor mat once on a salvage job.

Get rid of cracked or split lids that don't quite fit any more. Ensure tubes, cans and containers of any sort have lids affixed. Ensure alternative containers are purged and clean. Anything not in it's original container should be clearly labelled.

Check shelf lifes of substances in containers - some alter their chemical status over time and may be harmful or conflict with aircraft surfaces and other materials.

Check conditions of ropes, chains and tie down components - the aircraft manual should indicate the respective materials, specific measurements and methods to be used to moor the aircraft safely using approved anchor points. Any further information sought can be provided by the manufacturer. If you use a combination of materials eg ropes on a chain, every part must be good quality and in good nick to work. You need to check the inner ply of ropes to ensure their integrity.

Tube/port/intake/exhaust covers- ensure streamers/penants are attached, wash, clean and air dry and ideally store in a sports or canvas bag in a flat profile similar to that when on the airframe. Overfolding, cramming or crushing causes the items to deteriorate/fragment and disfigure. Using them is the best way to keep them in shape.

Gust locks - should be brightly coloured with a pennant attached.

Earth lines - also brightly coloured with pennants attached. Ideally stakes should be attached at two places to the cable (one is to join the cable to the post, the other is the continuity connection of the wire to the ground stake). If the wire is connected to the continuity contact alone, continuous stress may cause the connection to be faulty.

Check under any mats/floor covers in the boots/lockers as you remove them as they may have absorbed substances unseen. Not all corrosives are easily visible or have an odour.

NB:If you detect a spilled substance in the airframe ensure you know what it is prior to removing it. If you just wash it out, the water may dilute it to fix the immediate problem and cause an insidious problem inside the airframe out of sight if the slurry still comprises an active agent. Two twins were lost years ago due to a distilled water seepage onto control lines through the aircraft floor.

Consult the IATA DGR's and a LAME.

Check the seat locks and condition of the arms and joints. The two front seats are the ones that are thrashed and are the most important.

If you have internal comfort fans and lights, try them out during the housekeeping exercise so you avoid dust and rubbish in the eyes and weird odours (dead birds, bugs, mouldy leaves etc )

Stock up with fresh sick bags (double bagging is always good), a small barrel of baby wipes, and a small jar of Vicks for the aircrew (small dab on the upper lip if everyone else is throwing up - kills the smell!

CFU's - keep up with these details. They can be insidious when numerous. Sometimes we need to do the exact opposite of what a layman would think in aviation and recognizing that circumstance is the mark of a pro - to not be able to exercise that option because of some small ignored or undetected fault could be "short of final".

Eyes out, 8 "P"s and CX SAR!

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