How often do aircraft get an external clean?
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Joined: Jul 2008
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From: Aberdeen
How often do aircraft get an external clean?
I've just been watching this video of a British Airways A380 doing a go-around because the pilot didn't open the speed brakes on the first time around and couldn't help but notice how dirty the flaps and the speed brakes are. How often do they get cleaned?
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From: Texas
because the pilot didn't open the speed brakes
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2008
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From: Aberdeen
Enough with the hijack about my possibly incorrect terminology about those bits at the rear of the wing which are raised before the successful landing. How about someone answering the bit about the frequency of the aircraft getting cleaned?
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From: Wor Yerm
Dirty Money?
I'm with the others regarding the reason for the "go-around" but cleaning behind the airbrakes/spoilers and flaps is not a trivial task. Come to that, even cleaning the outside of an aircraft is not as straight forward as you might imagine. The first problem is safe access. You are a long way up on an A380 and even on the wings of say a 737, it's still to far to fall. The next problem is stopping water and cleaning solutions going where you don't want them. The sealing of ports, inlets, outlets etc. has to be done very carefully and a great deal of supervision and double checking is required. Lastly, if you want to clean behind spoilers and flaps, they have to deployed and then made inoperative otherwise the cleaners will be jeopardy should that device move when they are nearby. And then we have the time element. A proper clean may take longer than a day and in that time the aircraft might have earned you £250,000 or more.
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From: Australia
Airliners are almost always fitted with spoilers. Spoilers are used to increase descent rate without increasing speed.
It is true that they are only deployed fully and for a sustained period after touchdown.
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From: London
Parked next to three BA 380's the other day and noticed how filthy the fuselages looked - similar to museum aircraft parked externally for years with black water marks beneath many of the cabin windows. Not something I've noticed in such a relatively young aircraft nor other active types for that matter.
As far as spoilers and speed brakes are concerned...they're effectively the same thing doing a similar job - multiple panels mounted on the upper surface of the wings that extend into the relative airflow on selection (manually or automatically) and although the cockpit selector is placarded 'Speed Brakes', this is really only a description of their airborne function as not all of the panels extend during flight. With WoW's, all surfaces extend and collectively are described as 'Spoilers'
As far as spoilers and speed brakes are concerned...they're effectively the same thing doing a similar job - multiple panels mounted on the upper surface of the wings that extend into the relative airflow on selection (manually or automatically) and although the cockpit selector is placarded 'Speed Brakes', this is really only a description of their airborne function as not all of the panels extend during flight. With WoW's, all surfaces extend and collectively are described as 'Spoilers'
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From: Here and there
Actually they can be deployed while the aircraft is still flying. I have seen them deployed for short periods when descending on approach to the airport. Wikipedia says
Airliners are almost always fitted with spoilers. Spoilers are used to increase descent rate without increasing speed.
It is true that they are only deployed fully and for a sustained period after touchdown.The point the others are making is that if you don't know why an aeroplane has done something, in this case a go-around, please don't try to pretend you do. What's that famous quote? "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt."
To the OP: I fly freighters and they get cleaned very rarely, maybe once every C check.
Edit: Even when they do get cleaned, the flap tracks etc don't get cleaned as when they are cleaned the flaps and airbrakes are all closed up.
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From: Cambridge
They are speed brakes in the air, normally only a reduced number will deploy whilst airborne and are used to aid roll.
On the ground they are spoilers and as some have correctly stated only work when the aircraft senses weight on wheels. In this case all will deploy and they will effectively spoil the lift of the wing, get maximum weight on wheels to aid braking.
As for the washing thing, who knows and frankly who cares. As long as long all the important bits and pieces work.
On the ground they are spoilers and as some have correctly stated only work when the aircraft senses weight on wheels. In this case all will deploy and they will effectively spoil the lift of the wing, get maximum weight on wheels to aid braking.
As for the washing thing, who knows and frankly who cares. As long as long all the important bits and pieces work.
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From: england- up north (where it's grim)
We used to wash our fixed wing and helicopter ourselves (by hand) every Sunday. In fact, when the fixed wing was new (2002) and during the Commonwealth Games, we washed her twice a week.
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From: Here and there
You know you've "made it" in aviation when you don't have to wash the aeroplane anymore. There is a no man's land though where you realise that no one is washing the aeroplanes.