F-111 Fuel Tank Danger

[brine]

The following newscast from Australia indicates that F-111s have a unique safety problem. Anyone know what the specific problem is? Brine http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24050927-3102,00.htm

[NutLoose]

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[ernie blackhander]

Brine, couldn't access the link but if i think i know what it is you are reffering to it was not so much the a/c that was in trouble but the guys doing the work in there. All my instructors for my trade were all ex raaf from amberly air force base and the stories they amused us with at school were about the chemicals that they had to strip the insides of the tanks with to carry out the structural inspections. Nasty stuff apparently with little known side effects until guys started getting all kinds of illneses and 5 legged toads in the catchment ponds that would put the 3 eyed fish off the simpsons to shame. Much like the plumbers of last decade spitting out deformed kids because the blue glue that they bathe in every day is jam packed with methyl ethyl keytone

[john_tullamarine]

If the tale relates to the deseal/reseal thing ... there is plenty of information in the public domain .. and it goes back a long time. Run a search for "deseal reseal" and you will get heaps of hits.

Probably the link relates to the current enquiry which started yesterday.

The situation caused a lot of medical problems and reduced life expectancy for upwards of 7-800 maintainers .. for instance, one of my folk was ex-F-111 .. his comments were along the line that all his mates from that time are now dead ... a bit sobering.

A lot of the problem was due to management ignorance at the time.

Present CDF has taken a lot of interest in this and it probably was a significant precursor for the present and quite vigorous OH&S requirements in the ADF.

[aviate1138]

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F-111 workers complain of alleged chemical poisoning | The Courier-Mail