This whole Fungal Growth in Fuel thing.
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Sir;
I work for a company in the US which provides fixed wing aircraft support for wildland fire suppresion. We are in the process of transitioning from reciprocating engine aircraft , fueled with aviation gasoline, to a turbine powered aircraft. The microbial problem does not exist in gasoline, so we are facing a new problem.
As you have probably gathered, present methods of combating this problem center around chemical addittives and maintenance actions, also you probably noted that the problem becomes significantly more severe when aircraft spend time in storage status.
As we do not operate our aircraft outside of fire season, and even in fire season we spend significant amounts of time parked waiting for a fire call, we are facing a little different problem than most air carrier aircraft operators. So all of the present practices appear to have some disadvantages for us.
Bottom line is we do not know whether we have a big problem or not, but we surely are interested in anything that can minimize a potential problem.
We will have some peple in Australia in Jan 2011 for simulator training and would appreciate the chance of finding out a little more of what your client may have to offer.
Jim Pape
146 Project Pilot
Minden Air Corp.
2311 P-51 Court
Minden NV 89423
956-342-4871
I work for a company in the US which provides fixed wing aircraft support for wildland fire suppresion. We are in the process of transitioning from reciprocating engine aircraft , fueled with aviation gasoline, to a turbine powered aircraft. The microbial problem does not exist in gasoline, so we are facing a new problem.
As you have probably gathered, present methods of combating this problem center around chemical addittives and maintenance actions, also you probably noted that the problem becomes significantly more severe when aircraft spend time in storage status.
As we do not operate our aircraft outside of fire season, and even in fire season we spend significant amounts of time parked waiting for a fire call, we are facing a little different problem than most air carrier aircraft operators. So all of the present practices appear to have some disadvantages for us.
Bottom line is we do not know whether we have a big problem or not, but we surely are interested in anything that can minimize a potential problem.
We will have some peple in Australia in Jan 2011 for simulator training and would appreciate the chance of finding out a little more of what your client may have to offer.
Jim Pape
146 Project Pilot
Minden Air Corp.
2311 P-51 Court
Minden NV 89423
956-342-4871
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beg to differ guppy
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...00236-0098.pdf
and this reference is probably as old as your aviation career.
and this reference is probably as old as your aviation career.
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Thanks
Thanks Jim. I will discuss this with my client and get back to you. I appreciate your interest.
And thanks to everyone else for your views and input as well. This has been hugely helpful and informative.
Regards
Karl
And thanks to everyone else for your views and input as well. This has been hugely helpful and informative.
Regards
Karl
This is not a new problem. When I was a new apprentice in the late 1960s the L188 fleet (of a South Pacific operator) had a hell of a problem with the lower wing planks rotting out from this microbial contamination. We were told that the "bugs" lived in the water phase and "ate" the kerosene to live, producing corrosive products as they did so. Our stated strategy was to carry out scrupulous water drains to keep the water phase at a minimum and introduce various (unknown to me) chemicals to aid in killing the bugs.
The end result for this little black duck was that I spent a lot of time inside the tanks grinding off corrosion to the extent that one aircraft had a doubler fitter to the inboard lower wings to make up for the dramatically reduced plank thickness. The rego lent itself to an obvious acronym - XX-ECC, obviously "'ere comes corrosion"!! OTOH, the "tank allowance" and overtime were quite welcome!!
The end result for this little black duck was that I spent a lot of time inside the tanks grinding off corrosion to the extent that one aircraft had a doubler fitter to the inboard lower wings to make up for the dramatically reduced plank thickness. The rego lent itself to an obvious acronym - XX-ECC, obviously "'ere comes corrosion"!! OTOH, the "tank allowance" and overtime were quite welcome!!
mssb etc,
Unless the "gloop" floats on the surface of the fuel, you get it at once because the pick up lines of the bowsers only have a couple of hundred litres under the standpipe to allow for water.
This means that it goes out as fast as it is produced, assuming a reasonable turn over of fuel, so always fill up at a busy fuel supplier.
Unless the "gloop" floats on the surface of the fuel, you get it at once because the pick up lines of the bowsers only have a couple of hundred litres under the standpipe to allow for water.
This means that it goes out as fast as it is produced, assuming a reasonable turn over of fuel, so always fill up at a busy fuel supplier.
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Really?
Don't believe all you read about "German made" automobiles!
True they are big on biofuels on Europe mainland. The problem is when tankers and transit pipes have been used for diesel and then switched to aviation kerosine. That is where the problem lies. Only needs a few spores of this plant life to start a colony inside the airplane tank.
The other issue is rubber attack. The bio content rots rubber.
Love the way these threads go on and on and on!
True they are big on biofuels on Europe mainland. The problem is when tankers and transit pipes have been used for diesel and then switched to aviation kerosine. That is where the problem lies. Only needs a few spores of this plant life to start a colony inside the airplane tank.
The other issue is rubber attack. The bio content rots rubber.
Love the way these threads go on and on and on!
