Tuesday, October 29, 2013

A Simple Aircraft Ladder Explained

By Cornelia Reyes


All too often when people are at an airport they watch the planes moving about on the ground. They look so big when compared to the person stood next to it loading the luggage. How many people notice things like the lights on the wingtips, or the tail, and every so often they stop working just like on your car. With your car everything is easy to get to from ground level, not so with a plane, they have to use an aircraft ladder.

Even the most casual of glances will show that the planes are of varying sizes. As a consequence the maintainers have to get access to a lot of different heights in the course of their working day. To help with these requirements the designers and makers have made the various steps and platforms adjustable. They have also created different designs which are more suited for several tasks.

As an example the maintainers will routinely undertake refuelling operations. To gain access to the fuel point they will use a fueling platform. This platform is positioned under the fuselage of the plane, and then raised to the required height. The built in fuel lines can be connected to the plane's fuel points. The fuel bowser can be linked to the other end of the platform's integral fuel lines.

The construction of the platform is largely from aluminium. This serves two main functions, should anything be dropped there will be no sparks. Also it will be light enough to enable it to be easily moved.

Don't worry if you notice a strap dragging along the ground, this is the bonding lead. This is designed to prevent any static electricity building up by providing a path to earth. In much the same way that earth straps used to be fitted to some cars which had a habit of giving their owners a small electric shock each time they got out of them.

The platform's chassis is on hard wearing rubber wheels. This helps make it very manoeuvrable in confined spaces. When the platform is correctly positioned the brakes can be engaged. On some designs there are also stabilizing legs, these can be screwed down into position. At the same time this is happening the wheel are also being lifted clear from the ground. This helps to make for a very stable work area.

This same platform can be used on many different varieties of plane due to its versatility. This platform can also be used for a variety of other roles too. As the working height of the platform can be adjusted this makes it ideal to change those light bulbs on the wingtips which were mentioned earlier.

As with any aircraft ladder a great deal of thought has gone into designing it. The most important concern is always the safety of anyone using it, closely followed by making it versatile and adaptable. Next time you find yourself at an airport you will now have more of an understanding about what is happening down on the flight line as they wheel these bits and pieces round.




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