Lock Tile Blog

The Airline Industry Has Discovered Interlocking Floor Tiles

ByAllen Czermak


The airline industry is making a huge comeback this summer with vaccinated and immune citizens planning vacations to near and far. Although most airline companies are still requiring masking except when eating (try bringing lots of food), this has not deterred flyers at all. Do any of you ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes to prep an airliner for takeoff each time? It’s a lot more than just cleaning the bathrooms and under the seats. Each time an airliner lands it is checked to make sure no part or parts of the aircraft need repair. Sometimes during a flight, a light will go off that is not life threatening if taken care of on landing. Unless a passenger has some of their own experience flying, they couldn’t possibly guess about all the hundreds of parts that come together to make the aircraft fly. Although we realize that it’s not as simple as a car stalling in the middle of the road and there is no room for error while the aircraft is in the air, we still want our flight to leave on time as scheduled.

Repairing and upkeeping airplane parts is an awesome responsibility. Where else can you be on safe ground yet have thousands of airline passengers’ safety while flying, in your hands? This is the job of workers at the TC MRO facilities located in Connecticut and Florida with more than thirty-five years of repair and upkeep experience of accessories and assemblies for military, industrial and passenger airframe applications.

Have you ever been seat belted in an airplane with doors locked only to hear an announcement of a glitch in the system? Where can an airline turn to at the last minute to have their plane repaired quickly and reliably right before takeoff? Both of TC MRO state of the art facilities are fully equipped with latest equipment in airliner repairs and development. Their vast customer base of almost every airline in the world is witness to the trust their clients have in their ability to fix and maintain airplanes with the latest technology and machinery. As a leader in the aerospace industry their competitive pricing, on time delivery and high-quality craftsmanship makes them the go to for last minute and long-term repairs and maintenance.

Both the Connecticut and Florida facilities are in close distances to the respective airports in their cities. The Bloomfield, Connecticut site is located just a few minutes away from Bradley International Airport making it the perfect venue for regular airplane maintenance and emergency repairs. The Miramar, Florida locale is situated right in the middle of two major airports, Fort Lauderdale International Airport and Miami International Airport providing both these premises with repairs for all types of mechanical purposes such as oil, fuel and hydraulic to name a few.

If you are fortunate enough to get a view of these two phenomenal facilities in person (or else at least online) you would be amazed at the length and breadth of these structures. The Bloomfield, Connecticut venue is a vast 110,000 square feet area and the Miramar, Florida facility is 40,000 square feet in area. This is just too big for me to visualize. I wonder how long it would take to tour such exceedingly large areas. And which flooring company could fill up this vast area with clean, sleek, and safe tiles? Each tile is assuredly even, and safe, since there is no time for any kind of accidents, personal or instrumental. The floor must be sturdy enough for heavy duty equipment to be housed yet be made of the right material to save a precious part when falling. Therefore, a facility such as TC MRO cannot have a cement or stone-based floor. That would be too tough for some precious airline components.

TC MRO was lucky enough to be introduced to a special type of heavy-duty plastic tiles called interlocking floor tiles. Looking at photos from this state-of-the-art facility you cannot help but be impressed by how the designer intricately cast the tiles in patterns that enhance the beauty of the structures while at the same time using colors to separate different parts of the facilities. For example, some of the areas are more hazardous than others. Some parts are more delicate only to be repaired by specific professionals. These are cornered off with red tiles surrounding them. Other color tiles are used to soften the cold look of a repair facility such as TC MRO. The designer must be knowledgeable about airline components and repair machinery in order to design these buildings. The rectangular look of the tiles gives the feeling of vastness, and the colors give the warmth. Most importantly the tiles last and last and can always be picked up individually and replaced when needed. Some airline parts must be tested with water pressure and others oiled generously. Both oil and water are safe on interlocking floor tiles which can be cleaned easily and efficiently.

I will let you mathematicians or calculator hobbyists figure out exactly how many tiles are needed to pad industrial facilities such as TC MRO. Let’s try to downsize to a more personal and understandable level for the novices among us. You may know someone who has purchased a one or two passenger airplane for their own personal use.

Let’s say a guy decides to purchase a Cessna 150 or Cessna Skycatcher aircraft. They are so excited about this purchase they have dreamed about for maybe decades. It’s one thing to get a pilot’s license which is certainly exciting, but to actually purchase an aircraft that’s mega!

The Cessna 150 is an excellent choice for new pilots who are already familiar with a Cessna from their licensing days. It is very popular in training novice pilots, and it makes a lot of sense to purchase an airplane that you are already familiar with and can fly with it confidentially. This adorable plane can fly for a maximum range of 349 miles with a cruising speed of 124 miles per hour. There are several different variations of the Cessna 150 some with seating for one, two or three passengers.

Looking for a personal plane that’s a bit larger? The Skycatcher still has that sportiness with an additional 8.6 inches of width. That can make a big difference on a really cold night when you are wearing a heavy parka. The top speed for this two-seater is 135 miles per hour and maximum range of 470 nautical miles.

A new airplane owner has another major decision to make after purchasing his lifetime dream and that is the storage issue. If you live in a warm tropical climate you might opt to literally hang your plane out to dry so to speak, although it will be quite hot when you choose to fly it. A wiser but more costly option would be to lease or buy a hangar specially designed for the size of your personal flying toy. That’s where the wisdom of interlocking floor tiles comes into place. As we know from purchasing or building our own homes, each square foot ups the cost. With airplane hangar space it works the same way. You want to get the most for your money but don’t want to scratch or bang your plane after a perfect landing.

An experienced flyer realizes that some extra thought and cost to the inside of the airplane hangar will save him money in the not so long run. A great idea is to buy two colors of interlocking floor tiles, for example, medium blue and white and use one as your base and the other in line with the landing/parking pattern of your plane. This way you will always have room on either side of the airplane hangar and land and park your plane with confidence.

No matter what the size of your aircraft, from the smallest Cessna to a great big 747, interlocking floor tiles are a necessity whether it is in a personal aircraft hangar or gigantic maintenance shops such as TC MRO. The awesome responsibility of taking care of aircrafts whether they seat one, two or hundreds of passengers is the task of only very capable individuals. Maintaining commercial aircrafts takes brains and ingenuity and the ability to work under pressure. When a passenger is waiting anxiously for the aircraft to take off whether it is being on time for a wedding or a grandchild’s graduation, the airline industry relies on professionals to maintain and repair their aircrafts both in maintenance and emergency mode as needed. The next time you get stuck in your seat for what seems like a long time and impatiently start asking meaningless questions, be thankful that there are reliable repair services close to the airport such as TC MRO who will be able to either replace or repair a faulty airplane part without you having to get up, reclaim your luggage and get on an alternate flight or worse yet hear on the loudspeaker that your flight has been canceled.

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