I think that's a good model. An inert gas like nitrogen or argon would be used to prevent vacuum welding, loss of volatiles from various materials, and so forth. I'd guess that a relatively low pressure would be sufficient, something like a quarter of an atmosphere.

On Wed, Nov 1, 2017 at 9:04 AM, Bruce Johnson <xxxxxx@pharmacy.arizona.edu> wrote:

On Nov 1, 2017, at 6:55 AM, Grimmund <xxxxxx@gmail.com> wrote:


For ships being intentionally stored, no point in venting it to vacuum.  Hard on the internals, and then requires air or vac suits to get the ship  back into operation.  Although, if you are doing it intentionally, part of the storage procedure may be storing some large compressed atmosphere tanks in the hold, enough to get the ship back up to shirtsleeve operating pressure.  Or maybe not, and that's one of the things the yard tender carries around...


I suspect some sort of mothballing procedure like what they do in the Boneyard : "http://www.airplaneboneyards.com/davis-monthan-afb-amarg-airplane-boneyard.htm”

All aircraft going into storage are processed as follows:

  • All guns, ejection seat charges, and classified hardware are removed, along with clocks and data plates. 
  • Each aircraft is washed on arrival . The washing is especially important for aircraft that have served aboard aircraft carriers or in tropical locations where they were subject to the corrosive effects of warm, salty air.
  • The fuel system is protected by draining it, refilling it with lightweight oil, and then draining it again, leaving a protective oil film.
  • The aircraft is sealed from dust, sunlight, and high temperatures. This is done using a variety of materials, ranging from "spraylat" (a white, opaque, high-tech vinyl plastic compound sprayed on the aircraft) to simple garbage bags. With the white coating, interior temperatures will usually remain within 15 degrees of the outside ambient air temperature.
  • The plane is towed by a tug to its designated "storage" position.

I figure that if they maintain an atmosphere inside, it’s something like dry nitrogen, likely at reduced pressure; which will avoid oxidation of a myriad of things from electrical contacts to bearing surfaces to polymer seals. They may or may not install some sort of heater elements to keep the interior above deep freeze temps. 

The exterior is then wrapped, and sprayed with some sort of sealant or foam barrier against solar radiation and micrometeors. 

It will take a fair amount of time to bring one of these up to flight status, but I expect that with an active monitoring such a vessel could be maintained for decades or centuries.


-- 
Bruce Johnson
University of Arizona
College of Pharmacy
Information Technology Group

Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs


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