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That Orange Thing On BA 737-800s?

QANTASFOREVER From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR:
Posted (6 years 1 month 1 week 2 days 7 hours ago) and read 9085 times:

Sorry for the extremely vague title and question. But what on earth is that orange-yellow square thing BA has painted (?) on the forward section of the fuselage of their 737-800s?

Here is a picture:

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Photo © Sergio Domingos

QFF

7 replies: All unread, jump to last

Shamrock_747 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR:
Reply 1, posted (6 years 1 month 1 week 2 days 7 hours ago) and read 9039 times:

British Airways doesn't own or operate any Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The aircraft pictured (G-OXLA) is operated by Excel Airways on behalf of BA franchise GB Airways on a temporary basis, hence the rather unfortunate poorly applied colours.

The yellow area is part of the aircraft's previous livery which has not been properly covered.

VV701 From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2005, 6675 posts, RR: 17
Reply 2, posted (6 years 1 month 1 week 2 days 5 hours ago) and read 8796 times:

Quoting Shamrock_747 (Reply 1):
The yellow area is part of the aircraft's previous livery which has not been properly covered.

Yes. It is part of the cheat line of Miami Air's colours:

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Photo © Peter Tonna

Although this aircraft is operated by Miami Air in the winter season, there are no photos of it with its US registration and in Miami Air colours. However it has been frequently photographed in the above colours which are Basic Miami Air colours with XL Airways titles.

One question is why was this small area not painted? What is there about a 738 that makes this difficult? Is it an area of composite surrounded by metal paneling? Whatever the reason why the BA titles are not in the correct place on the forward lower fuselage is clearly that whoever repainted the aircraft could not paint them over the yellow bit.

BrianDromey From Ireland, joined Dec 2006, 3812 posts, RR: 9
Reply 3, posted (6 years 1 month 1 week 2 days 5 hours ago) and read 8754 times:

I think this is a credible explination....

I think that the area mentioned is where teh "ptiot tubes" are located on the 737NG. On this a/c they are some kind of sensor, whcih is flush with the skin of the a/c. If you look, it is possibke to see a bare metal pannel rise above teh cheat line. I guess that area is pretty sensitive to paint, and it was easieer/quicker/cheaper to leave it as it was than do a full paint job on it.

Brian.

Next flights: MAN-ORK-LHR(EI)-MAN(BD); MAN-LHR(BD)-ORK (EI); DUB-ZRH-LAX (LX) LAX-YYZ (AC) YYZ-YHZ-LHR(AC)-DUB(BD)

OPNLguy From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR:
Reply 4, posted (6 years 1 month 1 week 2 days 5 hours ago) and read 8685 times:

Quoting VV701 (Reply 2):
Yes. It is part of the cheat line of Miami Air's colours:

Quoting BrianDromey (Reply 3):
I think this is a credible explination....

I think that the area mentioned is where teh "ptiot tubes" are located on the 737NG.

You're both correct, but that circular bare metal area adjacent to the gold paint/decal from the previous color scheme is actual a static port, and not a pitot tube (those are located further forward on the nose.) When it comes to pitot tubes and static ports, think in terms of engine intake and engine exhaust, respectively. The ports have to kept clean, and clear of anything that would disturb the airflow moving past them.

See: http://www.b737.org.uk/probes.htm and scroll down for the probes/ports for the NG series...

[Edited 2007-05-13 03:36:37]

JetMech From Australia, joined Mar 2006, 2589 posts, RR: 53
Reply 5, posted (6 years 1 month 1 week 2 days 4 hours ago) and read 8645 times:

Quoting BrianDromey (Reply 3):
I guess that area is pretty sensitive to paint,

I haven't worked on a 737 for a while, but the round area inside the non painted region looks like a static port. As you mentioned, the port itself and the surrounding area has to be very clean and free from contamination, so it was probably easier to leave it as is instead of repainting. Airbus have a similar setup on the sides of the A330 / A340.

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Photo © Cees de Krijger

In-line with the bottom edge and about 6 feet behind the cargo door is a red rectangular outline. Inside that rectangular area are three circular objects which are static ports. The bottom of the cargo door has bulged fairings. IIRC, the absence of these fairings is a no-go MEL item as the airflow over the static ports will be changed. The two objects inside the red circles in front of the cargo door are AOA sensors. We keep a spare AOA sensor on hand in case one gets bent during cargo handling operations.

Regards, JetMech

JetMech split the back of his pants. He can feel the wind in his hair.

Dl_mech From United States of America, joined Feb 2000, 1769 posts, RR: 10
Reply 6, posted (6 years 1 month 1 week 2 days 3 hours ago) and read 8503 times:

Quoting VV701 (Reply 2):
One question is why was this small area not painted?

They probably didn't want to do another skin waviness check around the static ports. This is required for RVSM ops.

It's not going to the Moon.....It's just going to California

GatwickA320 From United Kingdom, joined Feb 2006, 76 posts, RR: 0
Reply 7, posted (6 years 1 month 1 week 1 day 18 hours ago) and read 7632 times:

I work on this exact aircraft right now as crew and we were wondering the same thing. Thanks for your information.

Incidentally, does anyone have any decals kicking around to give the tail that '3D' effect? Big grin

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