Page 101 - Mariners Cricket Club (Singapore) - Souvenir Magazine 2020

wingspan of some planes can be the width of a rust.
football fi eld!
Deserts are appropriate for storage
Humidity can cause a lot of damage to
grounded planes. The jet fuel planes use, can
absorb moisture, resulting in water formation
in the fuel tank. Water can breed microbes, and
these contaminants can cause damage to the
fuel tank.
This is why the arid desert environment is the
best place to store planes. Singapore Airlines
(SIA), for example, stores some of its largest
planes at Alice Springs Airport, Australia. It’s
dry, so it’s better for maintaining the equipment
there.
One facility in Arizona, Ascent Aviation
Services, has seen a 600% increase in its storage
business since COVID-19 began. Its president,
Dave Querio, informed that there was a time
when there were more than 400 planes in
storage, from six continents.
Silica gel in high demand
For parked planes, particularly in humid
Southeast Asia, the most important part to
protect from moisture is the engine, which can
cost more than USD 25 million each.
“When the aircraft is on the ground for an
extended period, these engines aren’t turned
on as frequently as we want,” said Li. Humidity
could then corrode the engine’s parts.
This is why SIA runs each grounded plane’s
engine periodically — every month or every
three to six months, depending on the aircraft,
engine type and the plane’s mode
of parking.
“Running the engine burns any
water content that’s in the oil,” Li
informed.
“This is what drives the aircraft,
so it’s very important to protect
the engine, to make sure it’s rust
free, and well-oiled...in good
condition and safe to fl y.”
Between engine runs, other
measures are in place to keep
engines safe from moisture and
Aircraft engineers use silica gel bags, which Yap
described as “the same as those tiny silica gels
that we find when we unpack our household
items”, but larger. At least 15 packs are needed
per plane, he said.
These packs are also needed for the plane’s
cabin. With cabin doors closed, humidity can
rise, and moisture can cause mildew to damage
leather on plane seats, carpets, curtains and the
galleys.
With so many planes grounded round the
world, these bags are in great demand.
The tiniest pest can pose a serious threat
Even though grounded planes are not in service,
the to-do list for maintenance is long.
Of the many guidelines, one of them is to keep
wildlife out of the planes. With airports quieter
than ever, planes became a perfect nesting
ground for creatures.
Besides the wings, engineers must check spaces
like the landing gear — and even crawl into
them to ensure that no creatures have made a
home there.
“You may find birds or maybe small rodents
crawling in here, which may damage all these
electronics and the hydraulic lines in the
aircraft,” said Philippine Airlines senior aircraft
technical specialist Manuel Quizon Jr.
Overlooking even the tiniest of pests could
prove catastrophic. He pointed to a 1996
plane crash: The pilot had received inaccurate
information from one of the plane’s tubes for
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et Club (Singapor
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