Such mats were brought into use very briefly on one AAC squadron to counter the skin-damage being caused to Gazelles by the refuellers letting-go of the filler cap, rather than placing the cap on an adjacent step. The practice of using the mats was quickly rescinded when, during night-flying, a mat couldn't be accounted-for. It was subsequently found lying on the dispersal near the tankers. One side of the black rubber mat had orange markings, the other didn't - you can guess which way it was found.
A solution was found for the swinging filler-cap - repositioning and shortening the securing wire so it would only reach the footstep or the nozzle aperture.
Last edited by diginagain; 13th Nov 2014 at 23:09.