Radioactive Pilots! Me??

[magman]

Keeping OLD aircraft instruments in close proximity to living

areas exposes those folks to radioactivity.

Also the higher a pilot flies the more exposure to the same.

If someone sends me a PM with e-dress

I can e-mail an article from " The Aviationist".

Or maybe you can find it.

The Instrument Shop in Lock Haven did have major concerns

with this issue.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Radioactive Pilots! Me??

The radioactivity drops by the inverse square law based on the distance from the source. That means if the instrument is moved form 6" from you to 12" from you the radiation drops to 1/4. That said NO radiation is best and it is a good idea to get rid of ALL of it in our planes. The real danger in old instruments is NOT being irradiated from being close to it, it is from accidental ingestion of the Radium. The fluid in a compass is contaminated with Radium, and if the fluid drips out and you get it on your hands you could accidentally get some on that hot dog you got at the fly-in! It takes VERY LITTLE of that to cause damage since it is now INSIDE of you!
The best bet is to send any radioactive instruments to a certified location to have it rebuilt and cleaned. I used Keystone Instruments and they did an OUTSTANDING job. They are S-L-O-W, but do really good work. You also need to ship the parts properly because they will set off all the radiation alarms along the way. I used either UPS or FedEx (can't remember now) and I think both can mark a package so it will go through with no problems. I WOULD NOT USE USPS!!!! I was told about a guy who had his compass DESTROYED because it was radioactive and to add insult to injury, they CHARGED him for disposal!
No matter how much you may be tempted, DO NOT try to decontaminate the instrument yourself. I took the compass to the shipper with the box open so they could see what was inside, but they said that wasn't necessary. They did it all the time with no problems.

Hank