Dixie -> RE: THE THREAD!!! (1/31/2015 10:40:02 PM)
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ORIGINAL: AW1Steve Helicopters leak hydraulic fluid. Reciprocating aircraft engines (piston) leak oil. Jets (or turbo-props) shouldn't leak much of anything. Unless it's the SR-71. That plane was a flying fuel leak! [X(] VC-10s leaked oil. Dirty horrible noisy crates that they were and they had three separate oil systems on each engine that all had to be checked and replenished at particular points after shut-down. Seeing as the engine oil system was still pressurised after shutdown but the scavenge pumps weren't running and the labyrinth seals weren't pressurised the oil in the engine would collect in the drains tank and be blasted out of the back end of the engine once it got over 80% N2 (iirc). They also used Skydrol, the most evil fluid I have worked with. It's a synthetic fire resistant hydraulic fluid, it's also slippery when it's spilled on the floor (or the hyd system leaks, which was frequently) and was even worse when it rained. The vapour would make your eyes sting at the very least, and the two reservoirs for the hydraulic system were sat right behind the rear toilets and frequently leaked leading to a **** and skydrol vapour in hot climates (which was the usual place to find the RAF in the 2000s). The stuff is hydroscopic so it hurts like hell if (when) you get it in your eyes. It dissolves paint and rubber so you'd better not be wearing contact lenses when you get it in your eye (I was and the lens started melting). Fuel wasn't too bad for the most part. The biggest problem was refuelling a VC-10 up to near max weight (78 tons) when it was hot. Which Al Udeid always was! We tried to tell the USAF tanker drivers not to park by the wing-tips but they wouldn't listen. They stopped parking there after the fuel expanded in the heat and filled the vent system and then dumped it all into the cab of the nearby bowser. They parked near the tail for a bit, but the tail fin had a fuel tank as well and the vent line would tend to dump fuel quite quickly as well. It was also possible to tip a 10 on it's arse if you didn't pay attention to the fuel load during a refuel or defuel, the tail and outboard wing tips were behind the c of g. Stupid VC-10s I don't miss them. Helicopters are just wrong. Full stop. EDIT: You haven't seen a leaking piston engine until you've seen a twin-wasp. The Merlin is squeaky clean compared to the Dak engines.
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