Originally Posted by
Pontius Navigator
Gr4, hydrant refuelling has had a dismal history in the RAF. All V-bomber bases were so equipped but there were problems. One I heard was contamination, they might have been left empty too long or there was a pressure problem.
Brize had a fuel pipe network but when the USAF pulled out it was abandoned only to become a massive environmental problem years later...............
Not quite PN. The Brize hydrant system was in use when I was first posted to there in the early 70's and was still in use in the 90's. As far as I know, it's still going. It became an environmental problem when PSA/DOE (remember them?) failed to put a blanking plate on the end of a pipeline spur near the Brit Line "Frying pan" and put fuel through the pipeline to test the pressure. Likewise, Fairford had a "bit of a spill" when a pipeline coupling failed in 1974 - another PSA/DOE triumph.