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Thursday, September 26, 2013

An Aircraft Ladder Is A Vital Piece Of Equipment

By Mia Kent


In a shrinking world today's modern airport is constantly active. There is a continual number of departures and arrivals. Yet as people wait for their flight not many will be wondering what it takes to operate a modern airport. Possibly a couple of suggestions might be air traffic control and radar, or even a good road network. It is possible that an aircraft ladder would not feature on these lists.

Whatever the size of the airport, they will all have this basic piece of equipment. For something so basic it can be utilized in numerous ways due to its adaptability. With the limited number of people who work on the flight line there has to be several criteria which such items have to meet. Possibly foremost is that of ease of movement. Ideally it should only take a single person to move such an item.

As an example consider a refueling operation. An airport handles craft of a wide range of makes and models. The refueling points on these aeroplanes are often in different locations, and could be at a variety of heights. To conduct safe refueling tasks the flight line crew need to gain access to all of these fueling points.

Another thing which is always high on a manufacturer's specifications is that of safety. Consider the material which this piece has been constructed from, it is aluminium. The flight line crews can move this item around quite easily, without risk of injury as it is lightweight. Even though it is lightweight in nature the whole item needs to be able to withstand the rigors of daily usage.

A charged refueling hose can be a heavy item, so the last thing that a member of the ground crew needs is for a piece of equipment to collapse as they are using it. Most of these pieces of equipment have a safe working limit of 300 pounds. The steps often have reinforcing gussets or straps fitted to provide additional strength and stability, again these are made from the same lightweight aluminium.

The width of the treads has also been gauged so that they comfortably provide a safe footing. Were you to look at one of these treads you would notice a perforated pattern, this serves a dual purpose. Initially it assists with keeping the overall weight as low as possible. During bad weather conditions it also ensures that the safe footing is still maintained.

You'll also notice the wheels located on one side, these also the flight line crew to tilt the equipment and move it easily. These items come in a wide range of heights, but to the same high specifications. So be it six feet or twelve feet high there is a stable platform from which to work. Even if they were knocked over by other machinery there will be no chance of a spark due to the aluminium design.

All of this thought has gone into such a piece of equipment as an aircraft ladder. Imagine that each and every item in use at an airport has had a similar approach in its creation. There are also serving platforms and other forms of steps which are utilized too.




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