Aircraft washing
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Aircraft washing
Do HM Forces aircraft still get washed as part of routine maintenance/pre-delivery to contractors for phased servicing etc? Or is this another activity that has been ‘leaned’ to the great God of efficiency? I am thinking in particular here of the larger transport aircraft etc. It certainly used to be the case that the mighty C130 was washed as part of the pre-delivery routine prior to flying to Marshall Aerospace in Cambridge.
The Nimrod airframes (based only at Kinloss) were washed after every trip and the engines were sprayed with WD40 or something that smelled the same as they were shut down. Those based in Malta,St. Mawgan and Wyton were not washed though I recall the WD40 treatment remained for all of the bases except Wyton of which I know nothing.
5aday
5aday
Bristow and British Airways Helicopters did the same to the engines after every rig flight. I don't think they ignited, just turned them over whilst they sprayed something through that took the salt off anf prevented corrosion.
That was back in the seventies when I was but a youngun and standing in as Station Manager at Sumburgh for the airline I worked for.
That was back in the seventies when I was but a youngun and standing in as Station Manager at Sumburgh for the airline I worked for.
DC
That is called a compressor wash and should be done to all turbine engines after a flight in a salt laden environment, ie any cloud around the UK! To those of a certain age distilled water was used, to those yong'ns it is ionised water.
That is called a compressor wash and should be done to all turbine engines after a flight in a salt laden environment, ie any cloud around the UK! To those of a certain age distilled water was used, to those yong'ns it is ionised water.
I remember one day I was loafing in the crew room when the phone rang and our squadron Eng O asked if any aircrew with nothing better to do would come and lend a hand washing down one of our aircraft (Victor K1). There was a general muttering of the "on your bike" variety, and I dont think anyone took him up on the offer. Even 45 years later I still feel a bit guilty about that - it wouldn't have killed me and it might even have been interesting. Sorry chaps!
The Nimrod airframes (based only at Kinloss) were washed after every trip and the engines were sprayed with WD40 or something that smelled the same as they were shut down. Those based in Malta,St. Mawgan and Wyton were not washed though I recall the WD40 treatment remained for all of the bases except Wyton of which I know nothing.
5aday
5aday
The automatic wash was always said to be for corrosion prevention but I never saw any data that confirmed its efficacy. Indeed when I raised it with an OC Eng he said straight away that an installation at St Mawgan just wasn’t cost effective and he doubted whether in the light of experience they should have bothered at Kinloss. OTOH OCNLS at Kinloss was of the opinion that it was very effective. Who knows?
YS
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I am/was aware of the Nimrod ‘drive thru,’ but was wondering if the ‘heavies,’ i.e. C-17, Voyager, A400, C130J, still get a routine ‘Eastern European’ wash down.....
Last edited by Trumpet_trousers; 15th Jul 2018 at 18:16. Reason: Nimrod in past tense....
Yellow Sun,
Thank you for your correction. I never landed the Nimrod ( AEOp at the time) and every landing when I was in the back
(stationed at Kinloss) was in the direction for the wash. We also came in from Malta once and made a 180 on the runway and used the wash.
I was at Woodford for a couple of years but never saw anything that suggested the wash was beneficial when the airframes were cut up/cut into for the MK3 AEW.
Thank you for your correction. I never landed the Nimrod ( AEOp at the time) and every landing when I was in the back
(stationed at Kinloss) was in the direction for the wash. We also came in from Malta once and made a 180 on the runway and used the wash.
I was at Woodford for a couple of years but never saw anything that suggested the wash was beneficial when the airframes were cut up/cut into for the MK3 AEW.
Aircraft wash team composition varied as to location.
Kinloss,in the Nimrod era, was a civilian team who washed externally and cleaned internally.St Mawgan was similar. As I recall Lyneham C130 wash team came from those on the Primary servicing teams who were servicemen and from my distant memory Waddington,in the early 70s was too as I remember a Halton mate,who was posted there,lamenting his new duty.
Nimrods had washes carried out for differing reasons. The post flight taxiway wash,the engine compressor wash and the Wash Team wash.
The taxiway,automatic wash using water only, was on request form the captain(not all sorties were in a salt laden atmosphere),as said previously;no proven benefit but probably helped. XV236 was cut up for corrosion inspection and caused a few raised eyebrows by all accounts. A Corrosion Prevention Team was manned by NLS for many years.
The compressor wash (WD40) had two functions,1.To remove salt and 2.To try to prevent sticky engine bleed valves. These were stopped because there was no indicated benefit and also because the application gun nozzle had a nasty habit of working loose during the wash. (one solution being to wirelock it to the lance.)
The Wash Team wash, using power hoses and detergent, as part of Out Of Phase maintenance was carried out every 35 days and also prior to scheduled servicing; to ensure a clean airframe ready for inspection.
Kinloss,in the Nimrod era, was a civilian team who washed externally and cleaned internally.St Mawgan was similar. As I recall Lyneham C130 wash team came from those on the Primary servicing teams who were servicemen and from my distant memory Waddington,in the early 70s was too as I remember a Halton mate,who was posted there,lamenting his new duty.
Nimrods had washes carried out for differing reasons. The post flight taxiway wash,the engine compressor wash and the Wash Team wash.
The taxiway,automatic wash using water only, was on request form the captain(not all sorties were in a salt laden atmosphere),as said previously;no proven benefit but probably helped. XV236 was cut up for corrosion inspection and caused a few raised eyebrows by all accounts. A Corrosion Prevention Team was manned by NLS for many years.
The compressor wash (WD40) had two functions,1.To remove salt and 2.To try to prevent sticky engine bleed valves. These were stopped because there was no indicated benefit and also because the application gun nozzle had a nasty habit of working loose during the wash. (one solution being to wirelock it to the lance.)
The Wash Team wash, using power hoses and detergent, as part of Out Of Phase maintenance was carried out every 35 days and also prior to scheduled servicing; to ensure a clean airframe ready for inspection.
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That is called a compressor wash and should be done to all turbine engines after a flight in a salt laden environment, ie any cloud around the UK! To those of a certain age distilled water was used, to those yong'ns it is ionised water.
In the early eighties, 72 Sqn used to clean the Gnome compressors on their Wessex helicopters using a process called a Turco Blast. Basically an abrasive substance called Turco was fed through the engines during a dry run to clean the compressor blades by removing any deposits. Turco was made up of ground apricot seeds. I cannot recall exactly when these were carried out but I seem to recall after flying in a salt water environment.
In the early eighties, 72 Sqn used to clean the Gnome compressors on their Wessex helicopters using a process called a Turco Blast. Basically an abrasive substance called Turco was fed through the engines during a dry run to clean the compressor blades by removing any deposits. Turco was made up of ground apricot seeds. I cannot recall exactly when these were carried out but I seem to recall after flying in a salt water environment.
"Turco was made up of ground apricot seeds. " It may have been at some time but it was also made of crushed Walnut Shells. Later developments were ZOK-27! No - I don't know what that was..bit it was reeeely good at cleaning AMQ Ovens!
As I recall (from some v hazy days of yore on the RW fleets) a Comp Wash was "water sans salt" - ideally demin. If the cab failed PPI checks the cab got another "WSS" wash followed by another PPI. If that failed too maybe a 3rd WSS - but after that it was "Turco nuts". That was sort of last resort really before an engine change! Had moved on by the time this new-fangled ZOK-27 or whatever that was arrived .. Zork 27? "Mork and Mindy" anyone???? Cheers, H 'n' H
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In days of yore when the V-Force was painted Anti-Flash White, '2 hours a/c cleaning' with a rag and bucket of tepol & water, was the standard summary punishment for any perceived minor misdemeanour.
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At Scamptom when The ‘V’s we’re white we had large canisters of Wadpole. We’d form up, on our knees, line abreast and get polishing. That’s when you realise just how big the Vulcan wing is. If night flying was cancelled, that’s how we’d spend the night shift. Aircrew never pitched in, as they did on my Sqdn in Germany.
