A casual glance up to the sky at night and your eyes will track the moving lights of a plane as it flies towards its destination. At any major airport you can see many such planes in the daylight. Those lights now seem to be a long way from the ground. For anyone who might wonder how these lights get changed when they fail, they use an aircraft maintenance ladder.
When at an airport you can observe that the planes are of all different shapes and sizes. So it will come as no surprise that to help with maintaining them equipment will come in a variety of sizes. All of these items of equipment will have to be easily moved.
Since these planes are all of various heights an engineer will require access to various heights too. The most common way that can be achieved is by using a simple piece of equipment called an 'A' frame step set. If the engineer were to stand on the upper step he would have gained 6 feet.
The basic construction of these steps is mainly from strong, but light, aluminium. This material, coupled with wheels at the bottom of the legs on one side, ensures that these steps can be easily moved by just one person. The wheels are made from hard wearing nylon, which will cope with the daily use, and there is no chance of any sparks.
You will notice that the treads on the steps are not smooth, but will have headless blisters across them. These are a very effective safety feature, at the same time they also ensure that the steps overall weight is less. When an engineer is standing on any of the steps their footwear will not slip, even if they had just trod in an oil spot.
With these steps alongside the plane and the legs in the in use position the steps are very stable. Immediately beneath the uppermost step there is a tray which folds down. If the engineer decides to place the necessary tools within the tray he then leaves both of his hands free which will enable him to complete the job more quickly.
Just by standing on different steps the engineer can now access the different levels, and there is no need for him to step on the airframe. If you stand next to a plane you will see that the surface has a polished appearance. This surface needs to be kept in good order, as this in conjunction with the plane's forward motion assists with the plane's ability to fly smoothly through the air.
People will have worked out that even by using such a set of steps, the engineer will not be able to reach the top of the tail. There are taller steps of different designs which can be used for this purpose. You will notice that some of these have a safety rail around the work platform. This is intended to prevent the engineer stepping off in an unsafe direction.
For anyone thinking of designing an aircraft maintenance ladder there are several aspects that it needs to fill. Safety is important, not only for the user but also for the plane. A single person also needs to be able to move the steps and also to safely set them up.
When at an airport you can observe that the planes are of all different shapes and sizes. So it will come as no surprise that to help with maintaining them equipment will come in a variety of sizes. All of these items of equipment will have to be easily moved.
Since these planes are all of various heights an engineer will require access to various heights too. The most common way that can be achieved is by using a simple piece of equipment called an 'A' frame step set. If the engineer were to stand on the upper step he would have gained 6 feet.
The basic construction of these steps is mainly from strong, but light, aluminium. This material, coupled with wheels at the bottom of the legs on one side, ensures that these steps can be easily moved by just one person. The wheels are made from hard wearing nylon, which will cope with the daily use, and there is no chance of any sparks.
You will notice that the treads on the steps are not smooth, but will have headless blisters across them. These are a very effective safety feature, at the same time they also ensure that the steps overall weight is less. When an engineer is standing on any of the steps their footwear will not slip, even if they had just trod in an oil spot.
With these steps alongside the plane and the legs in the in use position the steps are very stable. Immediately beneath the uppermost step there is a tray which folds down. If the engineer decides to place the necessary tools within the tray he then leaves both of his hands free which will enable him to complete the job more quickly.
Just by standing on different steps the engineer can now access the different levels, and there is no need for him to step on the airframe. If you stand next to a plane you will see that the surface has a polished appearance. This surface needs to be kept in good order, as this in conjunction with the plane's forward motion assists with the plane's ability to fly smoothly through the air.
People will have worked out that even by using such a set of steps, the engineer will not be able to reach the top of the tail. There are taller steps of different designs which can be used for this purpose. You will notice that some of these have a safety rail around the work platform. This is intended to prevent the engineer stepping off in an unsafe direction.
For anyone thinking of designing an aircraft maintenance ladder there are several aspects that it needs to fill. Safety is important, not only for the user but also for the plane. A single person also needs to be able to move the steps and also to safely set them up.
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