Gaffer Tape?
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Antipodes Islands
Posts: 94
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Gaffer Tape?
Photo taken on a recent domestic NZ Flight.
I assume there is a good explanation for taping up parts of passenger aircraft, but...
As reported by sideswipe today http://www.nzherald.co.nz/column/sto...ectid=10501905
(And whatever happened to good old kiwi ingenuity and #9 fencing wire?
)
I assume there is a good explanation for taping up parts of passenger aircraft, but...
As reported by sideswipe today http://www.nzherald.co.nz/column/sto...ectid=10501905
(And whatever happened to good old kiwi ingenuity and #9 fencing wire?
)
I don't want to be the best pilot in the world - Just the oldest
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Here and there
Posts: 1,013
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
They could have at least sprayed over it with a bit of grey primer so it wasn't so obvious to the punters. 
Good ol Gaffa - airframe on a roll
Good ol Gaffa - airframe on a roll
The Reverend
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Sydney,NSW,Australia
Posts: 2,020
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
It is totally acceptable to use speed tape as a temporary repair on minor damage to non structural airframe components until replacement or permanent repairs can be facilitated. Another journalistic molehill transformed into a mountain.
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Alice Springs
Posts: 1,744
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Sticky tape on parachutes
In the days when the dinosaurs roamed the earth (or maybe a little later than that) I was involved in skydiving, and went to England to see what all the noise was about.
Nylon parachute canopies were sometimes damaged during opening by friction, which resulted in little holes in the fabric. The proper repair involved more fabric, a sewing machine and lots of time. The English club I went to found a solution that just involved some sticky tape and a couple of minutes. Surprisingly it worked fine, but looked bad. Some canopies had lots of black sticky tape patches.
Fortunately, I had my own parachute.
Nylon parachute canopies were sometimes damaged during opening by friction, which resulted in little holes in the fabric. The proper repair involved more fabric, a sewing machine and lots of time. The English club I went to found a solution that just involved some sticky tape and a couple of minutes. Surprisingly it worked fine, but looked bad. Some canopies had lots of black sticky tape patches.
Fortunately, I had my own parachute.
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: australia
Age: 51
Posts: 37
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
yeah that's a totally acceptable looking temporary repair to a composite fairing.
There would no doubt be a requirement for it to be re-inspected regularly for integrity until it could be properly repaired.
There would no doubt be a requirement for it to be re-inspected regularly for integrity until it could be properly repaired.
Gaffa tape
Note that high-speed tape (instant airframe) and Gaffa tape are 2 totally different products, the latter having no place in aviation.
High-speed tape has far greater strength and rigidity, and is perfectly acceptable in the way it has been used here,
High-speed tape has far greater strength and rigidity, and is perfectly acceptable in the way it has been used here,
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Australia
Age: 47
Posts: 111
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The area that is taped over with high speed tape is where the upper and lower fairings meet. It’s likely that the upper faring had been removed during overnight maintenance and insufficient time was available for the sealant (used for aerodynamic reasons) to cure before the aircraft was scheduled to re-enter service. It’s a perfectly normal maintenance practice to apply high speed tape over the top of a fillet seal that hasn’t completely cured, it is then usually removed by engineering when the aircraft terminates the next evening.
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Queensland
Posts: 84
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Bushy
Your right, back in the days of round canopies(goin back a while) always had some ripstop tape in the log book bag. At least I made the repairs the same colour as the canopy
Nothing wrong with 100mph Tape either
Frothy
Your right, back in the days of round canopies(goin back a while) always had some ripstop tape in the log book bag. At least I made the repairs the same colour as the canopy
Nothing wrong with 100mph Tape either
Frothy
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Australia
Posts: 32
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Gaffer tape
This looks like the same sort of tape that Airservices Australia is currently using to patch up the Australian ATC system. (This material is also known by the term "Goodwill of ATC staff") Note well that by the end of this year, they will have run out of all available supplies of such tape and the new Minister, CEO and Board will have to try to spin their way out of the ensuing PR disaster.For myself, retirement will come soon enough...... but hopefully, not before the Minister devrees thant ASA offer an appropriate pay rise and maybe even retention bonus offers for the old farts approaching retirement, who constitute more than 20% of the total Aussie ATC staff numbers.
We'll see I guess.
I wish you all good luck.
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 124
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I assume there is a good explanation for taping up parts of passenger aircraft
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Hamiltron, NZ
Posts: 27
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
A number of aviation people (myself included) must have emailed the author of the column to set her straight as there has been a follow-up.
The "Sideswipe" column in the New Zealand Herald is a light-hearted feature where people send in amusing or interesting "not-real-news" items.
The compiler, Ana, is quite happy to enter into correspondence when something isn't quite right.
The "Sideswipe" column in the New Zealand Herald is a light-hearted feature where people send in amusing or interesting "not-real-news" items.
The compiler, Ana, is quite happy to enter into correspondence when something isn't quite right.
Join Date: Feb 1999
Location: The Orion Arm
Posts: 118
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Absolutely. Ana is an awesome chick, and this one is strictly for laughs.
In this case it just happens to be at our expense. Let's get over it.
Actually, I laughed my ass/arse off, knowing full well it was strictly for laughs.
And, it just shows Ana's integrity, that she doesn't get so pissed off that she throws her toys out of the cot and refuses to print a subsequent follow up/explanation when she gets called.
Now that's my kind of chick.
In this case it just happens to be at our expense. Let's get over it.
Actually, I laughed my ass/arse off, knowing full well it was strictly for laughs.
And, it just shows Ana's integrity, that she doesn't get so pissed off that she throws her toys out of the cot and refuses to print a subsequent follow up/explanation when she gets called.
Now that's my kind of chick.
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: YBBN
Posts: 1,022
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
as they say..
As they say:
"If it's stuck and shouldn't be, use a hammer, If it's unstuck and should be stuck, use Gaffer"...
However, Slightly unnerving... tape holding an aircraft together, couldn't the tape have a possibility of freezing and unsticking during cruise?
"If it's stuck and shouldn't be, use a hammer, If it's unstuck and should be stuck, use Gaffer"...
However, Slightly unnerving... tape holding an aircraft together, couldn't the tape have a possibility of freezing and unsticking during cruise?
Join Date: Feb 1999
Location: The Orion Arm
Posts: 118
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
"Tape," as you call it, is used all the time.
No aircraft has been brought down because it was stuck together only with the stuff.
No aircraft has been involved in an incident because the tape came off in flight and ended up someplace it shouldn't have, or worse, compromised the structural integrity of the airframe.
BUT!!! There have been plenty of airframe failures not associated with tape in the long(ish) history of aviation, most of which ended up in a fatal accident.
Hmmm...I'd start worrying about whether the rivets and camlock fasteners are going to hold next time you go flying if I were you
No aircraft has been brought down because it was stuck together only with the stuff.
No aircraft has been involved in an incident because the tape came off in flight and ended up someplace it shouldn't have, or worse, compromised the structural integrity of the airframe.
BUT!!! There have been plenty of airframe failures not associated with tape in the long(ish) history of aviation, most of which ended up in a fatal accident.
Hmmm...I'd start worrying about whether the rivets and camlock fasteners are going to hold next time you go flying if I were you
No aeroplane has come apart in flight because tape was holding it together, but I do remember a 757 (I think in Peru) that was bought down because tape was left covering the static ports...
Not really the same thing as I don't think Boeing put static ports on fairings..
Not really the same thing as I don't think Boeing put static ports on fairings..