Maintenance of airplanes is important as it helps to ensure safe flying. Maintenance teams, therefore, have a great responsibility as they have to ensure that those aircraft are well maintained. An aircraft jack is used to lift airplanes for diverse reasons, such as to change the tires and test the landing gear. Below are the proper uses of aviation jacks by ground crews.
Table of Contents
Prepping the Aircraft for Lifting
To be precise, the ground crew requires making some preparations before airplane jacks can be used. It requires a lot of preparation to achieve a smooth running of an organization. First of all, the plane has to be parked on a flat ground that is also stable. When the ground is not level, the jack may slip, and this is not safe at all. After this, the crew is required to verify the weight of the particular aircraft. Jacks have certain weights, and if that weight is exceeded, they will not be able to bear the load.
Setting Up the Jacks
In an aircraft, the jacking points are decided by the manufacturers at the time of designing and constructing the aircraft. These points are reinforced so as to bear the weight of the plane. According to procedures, ground crews must place the jack directly under such points. As for the axle jacks, the procedure is pretty much the same as with the other types of jacks. The jack is placed directly under the wheel and then lifted either by a lever or hydraulic mechanism. Tripod jacks are a little more complicated to use as they need more work input. Since they are lifting the whole aircraft, the crew is required to ensure that the jacks are spread out evenly. This ensures that the plane is properly balanced for the lift to be affected.
Lifting the Aircraft
The process of lifting an aircraft is a very sensitive exercise. The thing to do is go slow. Field crews always take their time when lifting the aircraft. They have to ensure that the jacks are lifting the aircraft equally. If not, then the plane may tilt or, worse, fall off the jack due to an imbalance of the plane’s weight. With axle jacks, all that you want is to raise the wheel off the ground. As soon as the tyre is off the ground, crews often cease lifting. This takes longer if the use of the tripod jacks is employed. Workers on the ground will then use jacks to lift the plane and they do it in small steps.
Lowering the Aircraft
After the work is done, the plane should be lowered down again. This is as important as the lifting process. Ground crews gradually unscrew the pressure of the jacks on the plane and bring it down in phases. This makes the plane land evenly and safely on the ground without causing an accident. Once the aircraft is on the ground again, the jacks are retracted.
Conclusion
Using aviation jacks may appear to be an easy job, but it is one of the crucial activities for ground crews. It requires a lot of time, attention, and extensive knowledge of the aircraft. When followed correctly, ground crews can easily lift planes and conduct the necessary maintenance for them to be flown safely.
