This morning, at my local airport, some putz with a Navion did that. A helicopter came in to land and, hoping to refuel, hovered by the pumping station for a bit, before air-taxing over to the tiedowns and shutting down. Turbine guys don't like to start up and shut down unnecessarily, so he'll probably get his Jet-A fix when he leaves. But it didn't need to go that way, if the nimrod with the Navion had merely exercised some good manners.
Probably the worst jerk I ever saw do this was at 44N, where the clown driving this airplane left it parked at the fuel island while he ate at the cafe:
Anyway, this Bellanca Viking was in one of the transient hangar spaces today:
And this Eclipse-500 was on the ramp:
I see a lot of jets that have engine covers to keep the breeze from rotating the turbine elements, but maybe this guy didn't care. That airplane was here over a year ago and it had covers then.
It depends on the engine but most turbofans and turboprops will not be damaged by windmilling. The main reason covers are put on is to prevent insects and birds from building nests or snow and ice accumulation in the winter.
ReplyDeleteThe reason that turbine operators don't like to shut down unnecessarily is that increases the cycle count. Turbine engine overhauls are scheduled based on start cycles. Heating from ambient temperature to several hundred degrees in half a minute causes an immense thermal shock. With helicopters there can also be a Retirement Index Number (RIN) count, after so many thousands landings the airframe is scrapped.
Al_in_Ottawa
Couple of years ago, a friend's father (corporate attorney, major firm) explained to me (as an ATCS) why they were looking to sell their brand new Falcons. It turned out that the engines would corrode very quickly if not covered when anywhere near salt water. Dassault's quick fix was a goop to be sprayed in/on the turbine inlet after shutdown (presumably quite a bit after) if you were staying overnight or longer, followed by engine covers. The flight department was NOT amused.
ReplyDeleteLast year, I taxied up to the pump at a small field to find a Piper Archer sitting in front of the pump with no one around anywhere. Another plane was already waiting for gas so I parked behind him and waited, and when no one came back out to move the pump blocker after a few minutes, I went into the FBO looking for the owner of the Archer. The teen on the desk said that that the Archer pilot and his passenger had walked to the store about half a mile down the road. I asked if someone was going to move his plane so that the rest of us could get gas, and he said that he couldn't do it. I was just passing through and didn't feel like sitting around so I went out and talked to the other pilot and we pulled the chocks and shoved the Archer forward out of the way, right off the tarmac and into the weeds because it was a hot, humid day and we weren't feeling motivated to drag it through a 90-degree turn and over to the transient parking slots some distance away.
ReplyDeleteWe both gassed our planes and took off before the Archer owner came back so I never got see his reaction when he saw where his plane had been re-spotted to. Bet he thinks twice about doing that again.
This is what truck drivers have to put up with on a regular basis. Assholery knows no profession, I guess.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but with truck drivers it's usually at a truck stop with four or more bays for the trucks. Not at a small in the weeds airport with one (1) kiosk for avgas.
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