The White Falcon - 26.11.1993, Qupperneq 5

Aircraft washing: not a plain task
Story and photos by
J03(SW) Andreas Walter
Surely the day will come when all aircraft
operators taxi to a designated hangar, punch
in an identification code and roll through a
fully-automated airplane washing facility.
To a certain extent, that idea has become
reality, with major commercial airlines in the
United States using semi-automated washing
facilities for their planes.
But for the five P-3C aircraft on deploy-
ThoroughJy rinsing the wheel well of the P-3.
ment to Naval Air Station Keflavlk, such a
thought will remain on the back burner for
now.
After every 14 days, the P-3s of VP-45 are
given a washing, or rather an intensive cleans-
ing reminiscent of your mother’s spring clean-
ing.
“We choose an average of eight people
from each of the five departments within the
squadron to form the working party,” said
AMS3 Melissa Shelton, working party su-
pervisor.
As Shelton designated the job descriptions
for the three-hour event, one of the
workers was singled out as “the one
who will be getting wet.”
This lucky individual was later seen
walking along the tops of the wings,
scrubbing, rinsing and being the unin-
tentional target of errant water streams.
With a total length of 69 feet, a wing-
span of 99 feet, 8 inches, and a height
at the tail of 33 feet, 8.5 inches, a P-3 is
a mighty big piece of equipment to
wash.
“Throughout the process, we tend to
use approximately 20 to 25 gallons of
concentrated aircraft cleaner,” Shelton
says. “Some of it gets divided up into
buckets for the minute hand washing
under the plane, and the rest gets used
with a pressure washing system.”
Like a highly skilled group of auto-
motive detailers, the eightcleaners went
to work, first completely rinsing the
aircraft, then attacking the grit and
grime underneath the wings.
“We actually use toothbrushes to
scrub dirt out from
around seals as well
as each individual
grease fitting,” she
added.
With 1,300
square feet of area
on the wings alone
to clean, the work-
ers have a monu-
mental task on their
hands.
“The planes are
cleaned according to
schedule, yet we
sometimes clean
them more often
depending on the
weather and hours
flown, ” Shelton re-
marked.
Operating P-3s or
any aircraft in a salt-
water environment
such as Iceland can
spell disaster if the
planes are not kept
clean. Since a ma- Brushing the fuselage.
jority of aircraft
parts, including the outer skin, are aluminum,
attention to this matter is vital. Saltwater is at
the top of the list of corrosive elements for
aluminum, and with their weekly routine of
flying over open ocean, the P-3s of VP-45 are
especially vulnerable.
For now, the squadron will have to rely on
teamwork and old-fashioned elbow grease to
keep its fleet sparkling.
Base commands provide valuable information for tour groups
By J03(SW) Andreas Walter
mands regularly assist the Iceland De-
fense Force Public Affairs Office with
tour groups from off base.
Throughout the year, various base com- Recently, a group of aviation stu-
dents from Reykjavik
toured both the 57th
Fighter Squadron (FS) and
thehangarofVP-45. Capt
Shugato Davis, 57th
Fighter Squadron Wapons
Officer, provided a look
into the operations of the
squadron and afforded the
visitors a chance for ques-
tions and answers.
The visitors then toured
the VP-45 facilities and
learned about the mission
of the crews flying the P-
The aviation students toured the VP-45 squadron hangar. 3C aircraft
The students learned about the F-15 fighter plane at
the 57th FS. (Photos by JOl David W. Crenshaw)
November 26,1993
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