Is this an unusual occurrence?
 

There I was, between flight connections at Hong Kong airport Monday morning looking down on the Cathay Pacific A340 (B-HXO) which was taking me back to Heathrow a little later. I had my binoculars to hand and was looking at the main undercarriage (as I was the design engineer on the electrical conduit system used on the u/c and had not seen it relatively close up for a long time). Perusing the rest of the a/c, two maintenance men on a scissor lift caught my attention as they seemed to be sticking something around an area on the cockpit front window. A closer look confirmed that they seemed to have a roll of silver “Duck” tape that was being, I assumed, to seal between the bottom edge of the window and the a/c nose. When they had finished and moved back down it was obvious that a both front cockpit windows had been treated in this manner as there was showing in most places, a nice shiny silver edging. The next thing that happened was that the side window opened and a gentleman wearing a white shirt and epaulets, who I must assume was crew, leaned out to inspect the work. He proceeded to use the blunt end of his “walkie-talkie” to iron out some of the apparent creases and pull off a couple of stray pieces that had been left behind. Quite intrigued by now I followed what happened next and the crew member left the flight deck and a/c, and approached one of the maintenance men. Delving around in a plastic bag on the now lowered lift; the crew member retrieved a roll of said “Duck” tape and went back up to the flight deck. He then leant out of the window yet again and proceeded to finish taping up an area that was either missing some tape or was not to his satisfaction. Having finished the job he moved back into the flight deck closed the window and that was the last I saw of him. All in all I would not think that this was a normal between flights operation so I must ask is the A340 prone to water ingress or is it just badly made???

I did mention said scenario to wife who was a bit perturbed regarding whether the windows would fall out, but I reassured her that it was a very unlikely occurrence so she went back to reading her book.

The tape could have been applied during the curing period of a sealant compound after a window change. Nothing abnormal.

They probably fitted "speedtape" which is an approved aviation metallic version of Duct tape which is often used for temporary repairs and is resistant to the wind effect of the slipsteam.

Guy in the white shirt was more likely a Licenced Aircraft Engineer who was certifying the work.
As mentioned already speed tape applied most likely to a freshly fitted window to allow the sealant to cure properly - normal practice.

You'd be surprised
 

What the ramp uses Perm-cel for. Not "Duck" tape or "Duct" tape. I may grieve the Pilot's assistance in the repair to Union. Just like those chaps to horn in on a ramp rat's pay check. Did the 340 land with "streamers" flowing off the canopy Glass? How Festive!!

It wouldn't be too great an exaggeration to say that half the airliners in the world are held together by speed tape.

Amazing stuff - if Icarus had had a roll of it, he'd doubtlessly have made it Greece with all his feathers and beeswax intact.

The other half is properly put together from factory and needs no tape to fly :cool:

We had tape on our front windscreen a few months. As we accelerated through 300kts we heard a very loud rapsing sound and something detatch from the front windscreen.

It only took a moment to remember the tape on the screen but during that moment it scared the crap out of both me and the captain.

Magic stuff SPEED TAPE, kept one of my cars together, and kept the rain out of my first cottage. Bless our MX stores who signed this out as 'incidentals'.

Half our fleet is held together with speed tape:}. Don't you just love those ADD's in the Tech Log:eek:

"Speedtape", aka 400 mph tape, very useful on GA and RW.

Discovered a leak at the bottom of the windscreen on a 320 one wet morning in Belfast. Speed tape sorted the problem out. Well, until the Isle of Man anyway.

Standard Cathay Engineering fix these days. I'm just waiting for the Tech log entry "FMGC 2 failed". Fix "speedtape applied" :ooh:

it has to be Speed Tape, and good stuff it is as well! Seen it used many times and that includes motor vehicles ;)

You can't be considered seasoned untill the need for speed tape has ocurred at least once in the flight deck let alone outside.
It should be on the checklist just prior to engine start and def before a call for push.:)

Sealant...
 

It's a standard AMM procedure to place speedtape over curing sealant after a windscreen change. The sealant requires lengthy curing times... in a warm hangar no problem but in the outdoors specially with either dry or cold ambient conditions present then it can take days rather than hours. The speedtape prevents the sealant getting sucked out of its application area by the airflow and is removed when cured... in the winter upto 3 weeks and in the summer about a week is standard practice on Boeings... unless the the airflow does it first which can happen if a corner or edge lifts!

Can't imagine a pilot securing down.. must have been an LAE.. only time i've seen a pilot holding speedtape is when they've nicked it from an engineer!

Selecting Pedant mode on:
... and is NOT resistant to the wind effect of the slipstream??? If it were, it would be slowtape! ;)

A Flight Engineer once told me you only ever need two items in a tool kit!
Speed Tape and WD40 - if it moves and it shouldn't you use the tape, if it doesn't move and it should, you use the WD40!
:ok:

Boeing currently permisses a maximum period of 48hrs following a windscreen reseal for it to be covered in speed tape. after this period, it has to be removed, inspected, and if not sealed, re-apply speed tape. Came in mid january this year. Only know as have changed two 74 #2 screens this year.

Cure time I seem to recall is 24 hours at 21C in ideal conditions - three weeks is a little bit of an exaggeration, most of it blows out down the fuse if its really that wet within a couple of days.

Good thing the reporters didn't see. Imagine the headline:

Planes Being Held Together by Duct Tape!
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