There have been a few posters commenting on the wood that is used to:
- prevent the 2 pallets from hinging upwards where they join, especially during loading, unloading and other ground handling
- spread the load
- make a firm connection between the vehicles and the aircraft floor without relying on the vehicle suspension
Perhaps use of wood is fairly widespread for such loads and the aviation group accepts it as normal, which it is not. The vehicle weight cannot be relied on to keep the wood in position.
Reliance on static friction to keep it in position is not appropriate. Movement of the wood away from the position where it supports the weight of a single vehicle results in that vehicle resting on the deflated tyres. Since every chain and strap seems to have a vertical component to connect to the pallet and the floor of the aircraft, the firmness of that connection will be reduced when the vehicle now rests on the deflated tyres. Then we have a position where:
- the two pallets can possibly hinge upwards where they join, depending on the pallet restraint
- the load is no longer spread as intended
- there is no longer a firm connection to the pallet and aircraft
- the vehicle suspension is now clearly in the equasion
Only one vehicle needs to be affected to move the c of g. If it collides with other poorly restrained vehicles a poor situation can be unmanagable.
If pressurised aircraft were permitted to have square windows, if the world will watch while 6 million Jews were murdered, if an unwinnable asian war dragged on for 10 years, Pearl Harbour was attacked and a US president could be impeached, I think wood can be inappropriately included in a loading system and an enquiry can be tainted.