Travelcity 747 at MAN Gushing out fuel 14:00 Local

[stevehudd]

Today I was at the Airport Hotel which is right next to RWY 23R and at 14:00 today the 747-300 TF-AME Pulled onto the RWY put it's brakes on while applying it's power as it sat there at high power fuel was gushing out near the No.4 engine from under the wing.

It did stop about 20 seconds later, 10 seconds after it started rolling.

Now I've seen many take - offs from that plane and others but surely this wasn't normal. It was a dry day so not moisture. Anyway it's an hour into the flight but wanted to let you know incase any engineers can tell the guys who check that plane over and also to know why it was doing it offcourse.

[CR2]

May have been overflow from the surge tank.

[stevehudd]

Thanks for the quick reply, I was a bit worried at the beginning but you can't really tell the plane to stop or ring anyone. But it climbed and I'm sure the pilots would notice later on that the fuel is going quickly.

[matblack]

Quite common for the Travelcity 747 to do this. Usually quite a lot of fuel gushes from the right wing tip and pours into the jet blast from the engine. Quite suprising when you're not expecting it. It's been happening for a few years now.Not every time. Must be when the tanks are particularly full maybe?

[mustafagander]

Sounds like surge tank over full. This is often a sign that the inbd main tank vent floats are not sealing properly. It may also occur when the overfill cb is pulled to get the last little bit of fuel in the tanks. A bit naughty, but sometimes necessary. I, of course, have never seen it happen on my a/c, I've only ever heard about it.

[Earl]

Yes that is correct Mustafa.
2 C/B's are sometimes pulled to cheat a little and get more fuel on the plane, sometimes its just a problem with the auto shutoff for the tanks and pulling the C/B allows the tank to be filled where it shutoff before being full.
Done in many airlines everywhere on the 747 classic.
Problem is once these C/B's are pulled there is no overfill protection and the tank may get overfilled if not shut off manualy, in time, during refueling.
One C/B is the overfill protection and the other the auto tank shut off valve if I remember correctly.
The excess goes into the vent system and usually shows up on taxi or takeoff, normaly not a large amount but very noticeable.
Not a real problem unless the fuel continues to vent, then you may have some other issues with valves not being closed.
The fuel load was probably all wing tanks full and the remainder in the center tank.
So any of the wing tanks may have been slightly overfilled and vented a little.

[the flying scot]

Not a Classic

TF-AME isn't a 'classic' and shouldn't need to overfuel on any routes between GB and east US or vice versa. More likely a case a poor fuel managemant on board, which could lead to fuel ventilation occuring. Not a danger to anyone apart from company finances...... Oops

[Earl]

TF-AME

Quote: The flying scot
TF-AME isn't a 'classic' and shouldn't need to overfuel on any routes between GB and east US or vice versa. More likely a case a poor fuel managemant on board, which could lead to fuel ventilation occuring. Not a danger to anyone apart from company finances...... Oops
http://www.airliners.net/search/phot...nct_entry=true
Earl:
Not even going to comment on the rest of the post.

[nuisance value]

Guys, I think it was due to a sticky reserve transfer valve that had been opened and closed a few times before pushback and this had forced a bit of fuel into the surge tanks. It was observed when the aircraft turned onto the rwy that a bit of fuel was spilling out onto the grass from the wing tip. This is what happens any time the surge tank gets fuel in it. Fuel quantity was carefully monitored in the climb out and it was confirmed that there were no leaks. BTW TF-AME is a 300 series. They are also classics as far as I know!

[Earl]

300's were classics last time I operated one also.
Someone change something flying Scot?