Thread: PreFlight maintenance - all these parked aeroplanes that haven't been flown for a whi

If it’s anything like the spider that lives in my rear view mirror some things are impossible to get rid of once they move in.

There was an article about Alice Springs on TV last week, where they said the planes are rolled every week to stop tyre flat spots and they start the engines regularly also. The engines are sealed to keep out dust.

Would be expensive and a good job creator.

the bloke who marketed the idea of storing planes at the Alice is someone whose time has come, and he duly thanked the Yanks for building a long airstrip to take A380s.
Regards PhilipA

Was it the Yanks? I thought it was the RAAF. Its been pretty long for a long time - I can remember when I was working there in the 1960s it was the only viable alternate for an Alitalia DC-8 Super 60 when Sydney had closed due to weather. I was enroute from Alice to our Simpson Desert camp, and the pilot and myself listened with interest to the conversation with ATC.

ATC confirmed that they could accommodate the plane, and fuel was available, but needed an hour and a half to get customs and immigration on site. The problem they could not manage though was overnight accommodation for 268 people. If I remember rightly they ended up just doing a technical stop, refuelling with passengers kept on board, and departing with enough fuel to get back there if Sydney did not reopen.

At that time, I believe the only runways in the country long enough for it were Sydney and Alice Springs - at that time the DC-8 Super 60 was the largest aircraft to operate into Australia. To put it in context, the regular Adelaide -Alice -Darwin service was either a F-27 or a DC-6B.

Jet airliners had only just entered service in Australia, with 727s serving the Brisbane - Sydney - Melbourne route with TAA and Ansett.

I've been wondering about wasp nests in the pitot tubes.

alice springs is a good place to keep them. dry air would def help reduce corrosion.

Originally Posted by Tins

I've been wondering about wasp nests in the pitot tubes.

I would assume they have covers.

The Auster I owned in the 1960s had an automatic pitot tube cover. Parked at Redcliff airstrip in Qld for a day, and (as I realised later) it was parked facing into a sea breeze strong enough to keep the cover off, allowing an enterprising wasp to start a home. My departure resulted in a very short flight - a single circuit with no airspeed indication. (Note - no stall warning on Austers!)

Originally Posted by JDNSW

I would assume they have covers.

The Auster I owned in the 1960s had an automatic pitot tube cover. Parked at Redcliff airstrip in Qld for a day, and (as I realised later) it was parked facing into a sea breeze strong enough to keep the cover off, allowing an enterprising wasp to start a home. My departure resulted in a very short flight - a single circuit with no airspeed indication. (Note - no stall warning on Austers!)

... Not quite, .... that sudden floating-off-the-bum-feeeling.

- and, er... floppy stick as well...

Hi Laurie,
I think there is a difference between short and long term storage. I don't have an engineering background - only what we need to know as pilots, about the types we operate.

I arrived in Melbourne a few weeks ago with a defect that needed rectification prior to operating its next sector, and was met by the engineering manager (who still gets on the tools).

When I asked him if they were busy (bearing in mind we were only operating a total of 60-odd sectors per week, due Covid). He said that they were quite busy with. ongoing maintenance, as all the aircraft were in short-term storage (in spite of how they look). The manufacturer's system of maintenance dictates what has to be done to keep an aircraft ready for a quick return to service. I don't know exactly what is done, but what I was told is the aircraft are powered up quite regularly, and things like software are updated (yes, the B737 has computers ). Some get moved around (as Philip described), and engine runs done. Other general maintenance tasks need to be carried out (from tech log entries, if any). We don't normally carry a lot of tech log entries day-to-day.

I don't think many of them are kept with a current CRS (Certificate of Return to Service) (kind of like the daily inspection), but that only takes about 45 mins to complete.

I imagine longer term storage would involve things like removing batteries etc.

Sorry I can't be more specific, as I'm not in contact with any of the engineers at the moment. If I get any flying in the next few weeks I'll ask the question. One thing's for sure - although most of us flight crew are stood down, our engineering department is quite busy. I imagine the cost of not continuing with the system of maintenance is greater than keeping it going.