PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Is contaminated bleed air harmful? YES...
Old 15th May 2005, 17:10
  #80 (permalink)  
JW411
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: UK
Age: 83
Posts: 3,788
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes on 3 Posts
Now here is another possible view of this problem:

I was born in 1941 and went solo in 1957 and have been flying ever since. I have never had a problem with "fumes" or any other associated problems.

I have however met some young pilots who have, in my opinion, become quite seriously ill in the short term with this problem.

I have been told by a good friend in the medical profession that this is a function of age. You youngsters have very little in the way of an immune system. You have been immunised against every bloody disease known to man and have been shielded from every possible bug and infection that your parents could possibly manage.

I can remember having as a child; mumps, measles, German measles, chicken pox and every other known common disease. In fact, we used to be sent by our parents to play with sufferers of the latest disease so that we could all get it out of the way.

When I joined the Air Force we used to clean the exhaust stains off of cowlings with Toluene (which I am now told is lethal) and every morning, the Ops Board was cleaned with gallons of CTC (Carbon Tetracloride).

CTC was banned years ago.

What is my point? Simply put, I have a rattling good immune system and have not taken a single day off work for 18 years now.

If you are a vulnerable youngster then remember my advice:

Start the packs in full manual cold and run them in this way for a good 2 minutes before going to auto.

For those of you out there who do not think this is a problem, then you are probably an old fart like me but your kids are vulnerable because they have so far been protected from everything known to man and you probably did it!
JW411 is offline