Aircraft GSE

Aircraft GSE By John Routledge

Tyre inflation equipment.

Tyre service equipment such as tyre pressure gauges and tyre inflators should protect us from tyre explosions. Precautions are still needed.

Aircraft wheels can support enormous weights, as in a tug, or withstand the shock of a 100 tons of aircraft contacting the concrete at 150 mph. Compressed gas can produce enormous force and released suddenly, send out pieces of shrapnel like a bomb.

Nitrogen bottle carts.

Nitrogen servicing carts have nitrogen bottles on them with up to 2000 psi in them. High-pressure bottles have the benefit of nitrogen regulators. Nothing should be serviced directly from a high-pressure source without nitrogen regulators or oxygen regulators to control it.

There is the danger of damaged wheels. Of course, wheels should be deflated before removal. Reinflating wheels for the first time after buildup can be challenging if there is a flaw in the hub.

This should only be done with the wheel inside a cage built for the purpose. Split hubs with through-bolts can fail and so can split-rim wheels where the locking ring comes loose.

Only dry nitrogen is allowed in aircraft wheels with brakes. If a hot wheel were filled with air, ie lots of oxygen in it, and the hot rubber of the wheel gives off gases, it can actually combust inside.

Tyre deflators.

Brakes sometimes drag or an aircraft may make a rejected takeoff, which means lots of heat in the brake and the wheel. This heat can be hot enough to melt the rubber in the tyre or actually set it alight. Fusible plugs may, or may not release the air in the tyre. Never approach an overheated wheel on the side where the hub is. Approach from the tread side only. Tyre deflators are available for deflating tyres that are dangerously hot or actually on fire, or have cracked pieces of rim broken away.

Tyre inflation equipment calibration and servicing is a necessity and not a luxury.

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