Ash will damage jet engines and piston ones as well (If they have no filters).
The dust cloud these day at my latitude may be lingering high above me but i don't see it. It must be well diluted... The sky is deep blue and at night stars are deep white...
Airports are quiet, and liners have their intakes covered, sometimes by improvised plastic and tape.
"Dust" is now the issue but what about sand ? Nobody talks about it.
I am not even referring to sand Storms but to thermic moderate winds blowing in many North African places and Gulf states .
Last year in September I went to an Airshow in Tripoli Libya, with a Sukhoi 29 and 2 Extra 300's.
The weather was really great with only light wind blowing.
That light wind was carrying sand, to be deposited all over the place.
Neither the Sukhoi nor the Extra's have air filters. So the cylinders ingurgitate what bother's our eyes and grind our teeth.
Nothing we could do about it, other than cover the air intakes whenever we were not flying, and flushing those canopies with water to avoid scratching.
But what about the Mig's , Marchetti's, Antonov's and Boeings most used daily all covered with a thin layer of sand ???
Let me tell you, when we came back home we had to strip every panel and clean every part, shampoo for fuselage and wings, gasoline with compressed air for the engine bay, the undercarriage and all hinges.
Sand was everywhere, we brought back a few ounces judging by the brownish streak left on the floor after water/gasoline evaporated..
I'd like to hear about someone who has experience with such an environment, or somebody who'se been working on engines exposed to such a harsh treatment!!!