PS Magazine - TB 43-PS-696
PS, The Preventative Maintenance Monthly
ISSUE 696
NOVEMBER 2010
37
PS 696
NOV 10
w
hen the mercury plummets and Old Man Winter
drops snow, ice and wind, you still need to fly high
with aircraft PM.
Mechanics know that PM in cold, sub-zero
temperatures is critical to readiness and to keeping
aircraft flying high.
When winter starts to unleash its biting cold, the
best action is to 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 you could rig a temporary shelter out of
tentage or salvaged cargo parachute canopy. Extra
care must be taken when using parachute or canvas
because they can became a safety hazard in a slight
breeze. Warm the shelter area with a portable duct
type ground heater and observe all heater safety
regulations to prevent a fire.
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 condenses, water drips into your fuel. When you take fuel
samples, drain enough fuel to get rid of all the water. Drain the sumps daily.
If you refuel an aircraft outside in freezing temperatures, always check the
fuel level before moving it inside. An aircraft with a full fuel tank should not be
moved into a hanger. Aircraft fuel expands with higher temperatures and opening
the fller cap could give you a Fuel spill to clean up.
Static electricity can fre up your winter real Fast, so be extremely careFul
during refueling. The hazards of static electricity increase as temperature and
humidity drop.
Static can build up on ungrounded aircraft as frost or snow are
swept From the aircraFt. ±uel ²owing through the fller neck can also
generate a spark that ignites fuel.
deep freeze
pm
All Aircraft…
deep freeze
PM
don’t let old
man winter put
the
freeze
on pm.
dress for
the job!
I k-k-
can’t
be-buh-believe
how k-k-
cold
it is today!
man, you
gotta
dress
for PM
success!
A warm, ventilated work
area will let you get
that PM done without the
nuisance of bulky clothing
and heavy gloves.
Here are some other
cold weather tips to
concentrate on…
696.36-37.indd
1-2
9/27/10
10:58 AM
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