Pic of improperly fuelled 747
 

I remember seeing in some website of a 747 that was improperly fuelled to the extent that one side of the wing was leaning down compared to the other. One of the inboard engines was almost touching the ground.
It just dawned on me that that pic could be a good reminder to the mechs to focus on refuelling.
Anyone knows where I can find that pic ? It was a head-on shot.

Leewan, I have not seen the photo, but if one of the inboard engines was nearly touching the ground, what was the outboard engine doing?

The RAF lost a VC10 due to a defuelling error. The VC10 had a fuel tank in the tail fin and the aircraft ended up sitting on its tail. The pic is on VC10.net in the history section. It is crown copyright so not sure if I am allowed to put it on here, but easy enough to find and read about what happened, but 'don't trust the fuel gauge' was part of it.

Wasnt there a Vulcan as well ? Knew some guys who sat a canberra on its tail during ground runs after emptying wrong tank !

Err... still hanging onto the wing.:)

BINGO
 

After extensive searching,got the pic I was looking for. Here it is:
Photo World Airways Cargo Boeing 747-4H6(BDSF) N740WA

Mass and balance shot to hell if you ask me :}

If memory serves, the last one out of the VC10 fwd baggage bay door before it tipped was a waaf techie

The aircraft in the picture has maintenance being performed. I would guess that fuel has been transferred from the right wing tanks to the left wing tanks due to, maybe, having to change a fuel component in the right hand trailing edge. That would also be a reason the flaps are down.

Rather than guessing why not read what the guy who took the photo has said as he was there and did not have to guess.

Refuelling a DC6 one wing at a time gets interesting too, especially as it's a pressure refuel system :ooh:

Well just because he was there to take a picture doesn't mean his information is accurate. I spent some time as an aircraft refueller and while I was only present for servicing of a 747 once, I have never come across a crossfeed valve at the fuel station on any aircraft.

I have however had occasions where a tank needs to be drained (into the center tank or other wing) for maintenance purposes, for example to allow for a known quantity of fuel to be added to the empty tank.

IN this picture the steps next to the number 4 engine suggest to me that there is possibly some work being done which required an empty tank, quite possibly fixing a leaking tank access panel.

If I remember correctly the only steps required to re-fuel one of these is to move the re-fuel valve handle to the open position which is done manually at the re-fuel panel on the wing. The fuel is pumped into the fuel transfer manifold and thence into whichever tanks the re-fuel valves are open on. I stand ready to be corrected, as it was a while ago I worked on them.

Also as the 747 has 4 cross-feed valves I'm more than a little puzzled by the photographers description of events.

The company I used to work for used cranes to install / remove engines, when the crane drivers went on strike, we were forced to use the boot strap method, problem was 1 & 4 chains couldn't reach the cradle to pick the engine up.

Solution, fill the left wing with fuel to lower the pylon enough to hook up the chains. We then transferred the fuel to the other wing plus some to account for #1 and did the same for number 4, worked like a treat A/C left on time! Looked similar to the pic provided.

Whats the on ground difference in wing tank qty permitted on the type

No Big Deal!
 

I agree with Firebird. Probably a simple maintenance problem.
ie: boost pump chg, refuel valve chg etc. Move the fuel over so level of fuel is below item needing change. When finished move it back. I have seen many aircraft with one wing full and the other empty for work- and they never "tipped over". Not a big deal.

Used to work on 747/100,200.400s, near disaster on one of them changing a component on outer engine on a turn round taking a while sudden;ly realised that I was standing up when I started was now bending over, to my horror bottom of engine was about 1 inch from resting on my engineering steps, pulled steps away and saw fuel bowser pumping fuel on opposite wing still shudder at the thought of [A] cutting bottom of steps off or[B] defuelling air craft and [C] standing on the lino in front of shift managers desk trying to explain ect

Saw the picture of the ''VC10 rocket'' in Italy minutes after it happened - The power of the net eh? Also saw a Tristar at close quarters on the gate after a turn-back with equal quantities in all wing tanks:eek: and once the PAX were off-loaded even bigger :eek:

Hello everyone, i'm new to this post so plz bear wid me if i say some nonsense.Just started my career as an aircraft mechanic.The problem i seem to under go is , since working in a line station I do not hve much exposure to all the components as you guys hve. Ofcourse there are maintenance manuals but i guess a pratical understanding wud be much better.

Do you guys know if i cud get any maintenance trainign videos for airplanes especially for B777 and A330. It would be highly apprecialted.

See your teaining school, airbus and boeing supply videos.