Apart from the standard and at all times instructional ‘Preflight problem’, the Basic Aviation Security Council (GASCo) supplied a really insightful gas sampling demo at its LAA Rally stand in late August. “The thought got here from a current accident by which a Rockwell Commander had an engine failure after takeoff as a result of presence of water within the tanks”, stated Mike O’Donoghue (GASCo’s Chief Govt), as he defined the rationale behind the show. “The pilot might have collected gas samples, as per the guidelines, however didn’t handle to identify the presence of water”.
The possible downside in that case, GASC0 stated, is that pilots typically assess solely the visible look of the gas, or its scent. For an accurate evaluation, as an alternative, each methods ought to be used. The problem grew to become instantly clear when guests to the stand had been introduced with a pattern that, in marginal gentle situations (think about a hangar on a cloudy day), seemed like avgas, and smelled like avgas. In actuality, the pattern contained solely pure water: the liquid smelled like avgas as a result of the container over time had taken up that scent. The marginal gentle situations, as well as, made it straightforward to confuse the transparency of water with the faint blue that avgas ought to usually have. The one strategy to detect water, on this case, could be through the use of a transparent supply of sunshine (eg a torch), and assess the color towards a white background. A hasty gas sampling, as an alternative, would virtually actually not permit a pilot to detect water on this situation.
PHOTO: Eugenio Facci
