PS Magazine - TB 43-PS-576
PS, The Preventative Maintenance Monthly
ISSUE 576
NOVEMBER 2000
PS 576
39
PS 576
t’s a time-consuming, painstaking task
to keep your birds flying when the
mercury plummets and Old Man Winter
throws snow, wind and ice at you. But
top-notch aircraft maintainers know that
preventive maintenance is critical
during cold, colder, and coldest weather.
When winter starts putting its bite
on you, move your aircraft inside to
perform maintenance. If you can’t and
you’re faced with some extended time
outside, use a maintenance shelter or
rig a temporary shelter out of tentage,
other canvas, or a salvaged cargo para-
chute canopy. Warm your shelter with
a ground heater.
A warm and ventilated work area
will let you get that PM done without
the nuisance of bulky clothing and
heavy gloves.
All Aircraft . . .
nozzle is bonded to the bird before you
remove the cap. When you’re freezing
while refueling you might be tempted
to neglect a ground.
Don’t!
You must
follow grounding procedures without
shortcuts.
Static electricity can fire up your win-
ter real fast, so be extremely careful
during refueling. The lower the tem-
perature, and the drier the air, the
more that static electricity becomes a
hazard.
Static can result from aircraft
moving through the air or by the
movement of frost or snow from
the aircraft. Fuel flowing through
the filler neck can also generate a
spark that ignites fuel.
So make sure you find a good
place to ground the aircraft. Also
make sure the aircraft and tanker
are bonded together, and the
38
NOV 00
don't let
cold weather
put
a
freeze
on your
pm
!
Here is some other stuff to concen-
trate on during cold weather:
COLD FUEL
~
Water in fuel can
form ice that blocks fuel lines. So keep
fuel tanks topped off. The gap between
the top of the tank and the fuel is full
of cold moist air. When that air con-
denses, water drips into your fuel.
When you take fuel samples, drain
enough fuel to get rid of all that water.
Drain the sumps daily.
When you refuel a bird outside in
sub-zero temperatures, always check
the fuel level before moving it inside.
When an aircraft with a full fuel tank
is moved into the hanger, the fuel level
will rise with the higher temperature.
Opening the filler cap could give you
a fuel spill to clean up.
Be sure
nozzle,
aircraft
and
tanker are
bonded
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