PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Block Fuel, Taxi Fuel, Trip Fuel, and Ballast Fuel
Old 6th Jan 2012, 02:32
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AerialPerspective
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Australia
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Loadsheet terms

Ok, the system you're referring to is most likely the old style (originally British Airways/BOAC) ALP DCS.
This was used by most of the world's airlines and is still used by quite a few that haven't moved to the NewGen systems such as QF, BA and CX that were jointly developed by QF and BA (mostly QF) with Amadeus.
TIF and TOF, etc. represent the manner in which this information is entered into the system.
The entry code is FP - e.g.:
FP/TOF/70000
TIF/55000
STF/1000
ETBO/500
STF is standard taxi fuel, usually in basic records for the carrier, ETBO I just threw in there because it's not used very often but represents extra taxi burn off when additional taxi fuel is to be used. Some airlines add to the STF but the correct way is ETBO.
Now, ballast fuel is NEVER to be used.
The correct way to represent it in an automated loadsheet or a manual loadsheet, is as a Service Weight Adjustment.
i.e. it does not appear as fuel in any way. The Service Weight Adjustment represents a weight (in this case added) and an index adjustment, usually obtained from a table contained in the appropriate company manual, specific to the aircraft in question. It is usually shown at the bottom of an automated loadsheet as 'SW/ADJ' and most Load Controllers would enter it as 'Unusuable Fuel' or 'Ballast Fuel'.
We did something similar to this on long B747-400 sectors such as SYD-LAX (QF, NZ, et al) when there was thought to a be a scoring problem with fuel pumps in the HST (horizontal stabiliser tank), inspiring an Airworthiness Directive that the pumps should remain submerged at all times, therefore, a Service Weight Adjustment was done for 'Unusable Fuel' for, I think it was, 600kg in the Horizontal Stabilizer Tank. Some carriers have codes set up that indicated the location and therefore require only a quantity with a table in the basic records of the system including the Index Adjustment for a particular location - an example might be: 'XD3' for example, meaning 'Door 3' (left or right).
Hope this clarifies.
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