FEBRUARY 2013 GROUND HANDLING INTERNATIONAL
the commercial as well as the military sectors. Nordic does not really need to elaborate on the benefits of an aircraft washing machine such as the DINO. That said, the Scandinavian model is the product of much research and development and has been designed to minimise ground time. Less rinsing is required; there is a lower volume of detergent used; and the manpower quotient is also less with this device. It’s a speedy solution when compared with the manual options, of course: it has been calculated that to clean an A380, for example, would take over 100 man hours whereas the same aircraft could be tackled in just 21 hours with the DINO. The other benefits have already been expounded and chief amongst these has to be the fuel savings that will accrue. To serve the A380, Nordic’s DINO 4380 is the requisite tool; this works with a triple section boom and can reach up to a height in excess of 11 metres. For those with slightly smaller aircraft within their fleets, the DINO 777 has been designed to work with B777, A330 and B747 examples. In this instance a three arm configuration is
utilised: total reach falls a little short of 11 metres. Narrow-bodied aircraft are not forgotten, either: here the DINO II fulfils cleaning their requirements with an application that extends up to 8.5 metres. As a remote-controlled unit, all
that is required is a worker with a portable device that controls the whole operation: computerisation does the rest. Safety is high on the manufacturer’s agenda and the DINO has been specifically designed to avoid the chance of injury or damage to an aircraft’s skin. Based in the UK, Rhinowash offers basically two options: a fixed application that can be delivered to an airport and which then simply requires connecting up, assuming that the correct infrastructure is in place; or a portable version that can be used and moved as required. The company’s Director, Mark Burns, says that he’s noted steadily increasing activity within these product areas over the last 18 months and that this interest has actually grown, month-on-month. Perhaps this observation isn’t really surprising: after all, today’s carriers are on a constant look-out for anything that can save them money and a clean
AIRCRAFT WASHING SYSTEMS 49
aircraft uses less fuel: it’s that simple. The most popular version for Rhinowash has been the fixed or semi- permanent product and Mark says that his company has received enquiries from all over the world in this respect. But as he cautions, aircraft cleaning isn’t quite as straightforward as some people would have one believe. “We hear about and see lot of
pressure washing – and this isn’t the right way to clean an aircraft. Corrosion is still an issue for carriers and this can only be prevented by a regular cleaning programme. We have a special gel that we use but we’ve seen people trying to apply this with stirrup pumps and knapsack sprays, which are totally unsuitable. These methods also lead to a lot of wastage, so we’ve developed a proper applicator.
“Another thing we’ve noticed is a
growing interest in a hot water wash. It used to be the case that cold water was used but that’s been changing recently. But overall, this part of the aviation sector is getting busier and busier: it’s only being held up by airlines waiting for permission to invest in this type of cost- saving application.”
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