[Jersey_TA]

Originally Posted by BigAls87Z28

Cold Climates? Isnt it pretty cold up in the air?

I dont see the major problems of making a tanker?

Cold temps at 37,000 feet for 5-14 hrs are different then the prolonged exposure to subfreezing temps in the winter. Any time the temps drop below 10 degrees or so the jet starts leaking hyd fluid from all the landing gear struts, hyd fluid will start leaking from all hyd actuators, eng starter valves start freezing closed(making it unable to start the engines without the manual starter valve operation), and fuel starts leaking from over half the fuel tank drains due the the seals shrinking. This is all from a 1 day stay in alaska at -25 degrees. We had 4 heaters brought out and ran the ducts into the engine intakes, and blowing on the struts to stop them from leaking long enough for us to take off. Trying to get the jet ready was a pain in the you know what.
It's not the building of the jets that's the problem it's the design flaws that come later. Like with the KC-10 we used to use the lower center fuel tank for special fuel to refuel the SR-71. Now that tank goes unused and for whatever reason they tell us not to put any fuel in the lower tank. Now any time a flight crew member puts fuel in the tank it leaks and the jet goes straight into fuel cell maintenance for days fixing the leak. For some reason there's nothing telling them they can't, but we in maintenance know not to.
Not to mention the delpleted uranium counterwieghts we used to use in the wings and the cockpit emergency sign that is radioactive if broken open(always glows).