Carrier based aircraft have to spend time parked on the deck with salt spray surrounding them. Maintenance chiefs will apparently ask pilots to fly through rain, whenever possible, in order to reduce the potential for corrosion damage.
Most modern aircraft carriers generate a lot of steam, some of which is used to power the launch catapults for their aircraft.
Today’s invention is an adaptation to the steam catapult apparatus, whereby, when not engaged in combat operations, jets of steam can be directed at the fuselage and undercarriage of a plane for say ten seconds, as it lines up for takeoff.
This steam cleaning will greatly reduce the concentration of salt in all the aircraft’s recesses and preserve its working life.
