What is it like to work with half a million volts running through you?

Andrew

Just ask this guy.

HMTKSteve

They have to use the grounding rods when helicopters land on ships too. It has to do with the amount of static electricity generated by the helicopter.

Sail

That's pretty intense.

Corbin

That job would freak me the fuck out...

deaf-mute

That job would freak me the fuck out...

What he said.

WallyBman

As far as I know, I imagine I might be the closest thing to a local expert on helicopters and their workings that we have here on the forums. Helicopters generate metric shit-tons of static. Any time pretty much anything is removed from one, and then reinstalled, a continuity check has to be done to make sure everything still grounds properly. On my birds, each blade on the main rotor sytem has static discharge wicks, each wing has a discharge wick, one of the main landing gear wheels has a discharge wick, the tail wheel has one, and either side of the horizontal stabilator has one. They have to all be checked at the end of every flight day, and replaced as needed. That isn't just on my airframes, that is on most every make and model of helicopter. And all of those are in addition to the chassis discharge ports. I've personally witnessed an aircraft discharging static while in the air, and it is a sight to see. Also, ALL helicopters are grounded once they land. Usually that is done through the securing (chaining down) process.

Oh, and:

***DISCLAIMER!!!***

Any information given is general aviation industry knowledge. No information stated is in any way a trade secret, nor does it fall under government restricted access information procedures. Anything stated is knowledge that one would obtain during the process of obtaining an FAA endorsed A&P (airframe maintenence and powerplant maintenence) license.
Also, don't listen to me, I'm a dumbshit.

Okay, I think that should cover everything.