Fuelling an aircraft
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Fuelling an aircraft
Evening all,
I was wondering...how do you fuel an Airbus or Boeing aircraft?
Presumably the pilots first establish how much fuel they want to take, but how do you then communicate this information to the ground staff who do the fuelling? Do you just tell them over the radio? How does this person know when the correct amount of fuel has been loaded (is there a 'guage' on the outside?) because he obviously can't see your fuel indicators on the flight deck. Finally, does this process have anything to do with the guy/gal who always pays a visit to the flight deck with some documents to be signed before departure?!
Thanks in advance.
Nick
I was wondering...how do you fuel an Airbus or Boeing aircraft?
Presumably the pilots first establish how much fuel they want to take, but how do you then communicate this information to the ground staff who do the fuelling? Do you just tell them over the radio? How does this person know when the correct amount of fuel has been loaded (is there a 'guage' on the outside?) because he obviously can't see your fuel indicators on the flight deck. Finally, does this process have anything to do with the guy/gal who always pays a visit to the flight deck with some documents to be signed before departure?!
Thanks in advance.
Nick
Fuel load calculated by Flight Planners with regard to aircraft type / routing / weather / peformance / aircraft load / regulations / other requirements such as price and availibility of fuel at destination . Captain then reviews this and may elect to carry extra subject to constraints such as max take off weight , max landing weight , C of G .
This is passed to engineers or direct to dispatcher and then to the refueller.
Aircraft is hooked up to the bowser and load is selected on the refuel panel which can be next to the fuel coupling or on a suitable ground acess panel ( Airbus do this ) Fuel gauges are repeaters of the cockpit indicators .
Fully automatic distribution usually selected ....you just have to dial in the final total fuel required , the onboard computers look after opening and closing the refuel valves. Once all done , the refueller disconnects and the uplift figures and total load is then annotated into the tech log . Any significant discrepency picked up will be investigated......usually uplift is greater than calculated and cause could be the wrong SG used during calculations and / or APU useage during the turnround.
This is passed to engineers or direct to dispatcher and then to the refueller.
Aircraft is hooked up to the bowser and load is selected on the refuel panel which can be next to the fuel coupling or on a suitable ground acess panel ( Airbus do this ) Fuel gauges are repeaters of the cockpit indicators .
Fully automatic distribution usually selected ....you just have to dial in the final total fuel required , the onboard computers look after opening and closing the refuel valves. Once all done , the refueller disconnects and the uplift figures and total load is then annotated into the tech log . Any significant discrepency picked up will be investigated......usually uplift is greater than calculated and cause could be the wrong SG used during calculations and / or APU useage during the turnround.
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Fueling
Nicholas49,
As the Captain I look over the route planned by the company dispatcher and the weather then I make my decision on how much fuel I need to take. I pick up the phone and call the local operations center, or talk to them in person, and tell them how much fuel to put in the jet. In the United States we use pounds of fuel. A fuel load will be 40,000 lbs – or whatever.
Now that operations person will in turn talk to the person who will actually be pumping the jet fuel into the aircraft. Out at the jet a hose is connected that delivers jet fuel. The hose comes off the back of a truck or attached directly to an underground fuel pipe. At the fuel panel on the airplane where the fuel line attaches (under the right wing about 1/3 of the way out towards the tip) there are fuel gauges and switches. The person fueling either manually turns off the fuel when the correct amount is reached or the system automatically shuts off when a predetermined quantity is reached.
Depending on where we take on the fuel the person may or may not be required to report to the flight deck with a fuel receipt.
As you can imagine it can get interesting when during the course of a day a person deals with pounds of fuel, imperial gallons, liters, U.S. gallons and inoperative fuel gauges. There is an interesting story about a Canadian 767 that ended up gliding to a safe landing at a remote airstrip/drag racing strip after running out of fuel at altitude while travelling across Canada after just a scenario; here is a link:
Gimli Glider - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
As the Captain I look over the route planned by the company dispatcher and the weather then I make my decision on how much fuel I need to take. I pick up the phone and call the local operations center, or talk to them in person, and tell them how much fuel to put in the jet. In the United States we use pounds of fuel. A fuel load will be 40,000 lbs – or whatever.
Now that operations person will in turn talk to the person who will actually be pumping the jet fuel into the aircraft. Out at the jet a hose is connected that delivers jet fuel. The hose comes off the back of a truck or attached directly to an underground fuel pipe. At the fuel panel on the airplane where the fuel line attaches (under the right wing about 1/3 of the way out towards the tip) there are fuel gauges and switches. The person fueling either manually turns off the fuel when the correct amount is reached or the system automatically shuts off when a predetermined quantity is reached.
Depending on where we take on the fuel the person may or may not be required to report to the flight deck with a fuel receipt.
As you can imagine it can get interesting when during the course of a day a person deals with pounds of fuel, imperial gallons, liters, U.S. gallons and inoperative fuel gauges. There is an interesting story about a Canadian 767 that ended up gliding to a safe landing at a remote airstrip/drag racing strip after running out of fuel at altitude while travelling across Canada after just a scenario; here is a link:
Gimli Glider - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
On older generation aircraft there was no automatic distribution and control system. One took the total fuel required figure given by the flight crew or dispatcher and looked up a chart that showed how much went into each tank to maintain centre of gravity and structural loads within limits. The refueller had to watch all the gauges and switch off each tank as it reached the correct figure. Only tanks being completely filled could left to shut off automatically.
There were a few cross checks employed to catch errors and monitor fuel qty system accuracy as older generation systems suffered from calibration drift and needed monitoring. Modern computerised systems are largely self monitoring and announce any faults detected.
The bowser/tanker operator always supplies a receipt in gallons or litres for the amount his meters said he had pumped into the aircraft. This figure was converted to kgs or lbs by multiplying by the SG of the dispensed fuel. This figure was then compared to the actual total indicated by the aircraft gauges by adding the indicated fuel on board before refuelling. ie. the total indicated quantity after refuelling should equal the indicated fuel before refuelling plus the bowser qty pumped in. If there was a significant discrepancy a check using the manual measuring sticks might be called for.
Jet liners have a fuel flow indicating system which is independant of the fuel qty system. This displays the amount of fuel being used by each engine as well as the total consumed by each engine (it is zeroed before engine start). At the end of the flight the crew can add up the fuel used by each engine and the total should compare closely with what the qty indicators show was burnt on the flight. A significant discrepancy required further checks during the next refuelling.
There were a few cross checks employed to catch errors and monitor fuel qty system accuracy as older generation systems suffered from calibration drift and needed monitoring. Modern computerised systems are largely self monitoring and announce any faults detected.
The bowser/tanker operator always supplies a receipt in gallons or litres for the amount his meters said he had pumped into the aircraft. This figure was converted to kgs or lbs by multiplying by the SG of the dispensed fuel. This figure was then compared to the actual total indicated by the aircraft gauges by adding the indicated fuel on board before refuelling. ie. the total indicated quantity after refuelling should equal the indicated fuel before refuelling plus the bowser qty pumped in. If there was a significant discrepancy a check using the manual measuring sticks might be called for.
Jet liners have a fuel flow indicating system which is independant of the fuel qty system. This displays the amount of fuel being used by each engine as well as the total consumed by each engine (it is zeroed before engine start). At the end of the flight the crew can add up the fuel used by each engine and the total should compare closely with what the qty indicators show was burnt on the flight. A significant discrepancy required further checks during the next refuelling.
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Usually the flight dispatchers would pass the estimated fuel quantity to the tech crew. The tech crew would then double check the fuel quantity to see whether it's suitable for the flight route and weather conditions present and pass on the endorsed fuel quantity as final fuel to the maint personnel.
There was an incident in my company once when the flight crew said they wanted "twenty four" as the final fuel. The maint personnel pumped in 24 tons and it was later realised that the flight crew meant 20.4 tonnes. Ever since then, the final fuel is obtained in a B&W format.
There is a gauge at the refuellers panel to show how much fuel is in the tanks and in 90% of the a/c out there, it's a fully automated process where you just input the required fuel and the a/c computers would pump it up to that amount.
There was an incident in my company once when the flight crew said they wanted "twenty four" as the final fuel. The maint personnel pumped in 24 tons and it was later realised that the flight crew meant 20.4 tonnes. Ever since then, the final fuel is obtained in a B&W format.
There is a gauge at the refuellers panel to show how much fuel is in the tanks and in 90% of the a/c out there, it's a fully automated process where you just input the required fuel and the a/c computers would pump it up to that amount.
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Captains Only!
Good Captains consult with their First Officers (who may well be Captains by rank), and together agree the figure whilst planning. Good for safety and teamwork.
Clearly some Captains consider themselves too important to share this decision! (See above). I remember a notoriously arrogant Aussie Skipper, who "gave" me the first sector as PF, then immediately rang the Fuel Company with his figure without discussion. I straightaway gave him back the sector and also the return! He was somewhat surprised, but settled down after a while and understood the deal. Slow learner!
C.R.M is the modern title for such modus operandi.
Clearly some Captains consider themselves too important to share this decision! (See above). I remember a notoriously arrogant Aussie Skipper, who "gave" me the first sector as PF, then immediately rang the Fuel Company with his figure without discussion. I straightaway gave him back the sector and also the return! He was somewhat surprised, but settled down after a while and understood the deal. Slow learner!
C.R.M is the modern title for such modus operandi.
Warning Toxic!
Disgusted of Tunbridge
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This automation thing is obviously an Airbus/modern Boeing thing. The 757 has cut-off settings, the 737 and 737 NG just have on/off fuel switches for each tank, so it relies on watching the gauges as they fill up. For some reason, some Spanish refuellers sometimes want the pilot to operate the switches himself at the wing station.
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Some aircraft are plug n' play which is great from the fuellers POV. connect, pump, disconnect. Simples!
Others need varying amounts of inputs, you know it's going to be fun when the flight crew/engineer starts battering the gauges and you know someone is going to get a Jet A shower when they "monitor" it manually by standing on the wing with the gravity point open.
And for two captains on a flight arguing about fuel, not fun when its RRR on a helo. One Cpt wants more fuel while the other is trying to load pax back on.
Others need varying amounts of inputs, you know it's going to be fun when the flight crew/engineer starts battering the gauges and you know someone is going to get a Jet A shower when they "monitor" it manually by standing on the wing with the gravity point open.
And for two captains on a flight arguing about fuel, not fun when its RRR on a helo. One Cpt wants more fuel while the other is trying to load pax back on.
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Where I work PF decides on fuel load in consultation with PNF. In the UK this message is passed to the ground handlers, and the aircraft is loaded.
Downroute (outside the UK) the PNF will dial up the fuel figure at the fuelling station (B757) and sign for the fuel.
The B757 has a fuel station under the right hand wing. There is one quantity selector, and three gauges / buttons - one for each tank. First turn the power on, then you select the quantity you want and press the appropriate selector button for the left and right tanks - 6,500Kgs in each wing is full wing tanks. You then change the selector for how much you want in the centre tank - if any - and press the centre tank button. Turn all three valves on, and the aircraft will load the requested amount of fuel into each tank.
In the flight deck we have a display of each tank, and so can check that the amount requested is actually loaded. The FMC also has a fuel figure (worked out slightly differently by using fuel flow once the engines are running)
We also do a gross error check - say we start with 4,000Kgs, and have requested 20,000Kgs, we know that we should be loading 16,000Kgs. 16,000/0.8 (approx. SG for Jet A1) is 20,000 - so I would expect the fuel chit to show somewhere between 19,800 - 20,200 Litres loaded - anything different should start alarm bells ringing.
Hope this helps.
DW.
Downroute (outside the UK) the PNF will dial up the fuel figure at the fuelling station (B757) and sign for the fuel.
The B757 has a fuel station under the right hand wing. There is one quantity selector, and three gauges / buttons - one for each tank. First turn the power on, then you select the quantity you want and press the appropriate selector button for the left and right tanks - 6,500Kgs in each wing is full wing tanks. You then change the selector for how much you want in the centre tank - if any - and press the centre tank button. Turn all three valves on, and the aircraft will load the requested amount of fuel into each tank.
In the flight deck we have a display of each tank, and so can check that the amount requested is actually loaded. The FMC also has a fuel figure (worked out slightly differently by using fuel flow once the engines are running)
We also do a gross error check - say we start with 4,000Kgs, and have requested 20,000Kgs, we know that we should be loading 16,000Kgs. 16,000/0.8 (approx. SG for Jet A1) is 20,000 - so I would expect the fuel chit to show somewhere between 19,800 - 20,200 Litres loaded - anything different should start alarm bells ringing.
Hope this helps.
DW.
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Some A310s had refuelling valves that closed slowly causing refuellers who relied on its auto option to have a "wet surprise". On the 744, the refueller must take caution when power was being transferred from APU to GPU or vice versa, or else the pre-selected amount will go blank and the a/c will be filled to the max if not monitored.
Some Airbuses have the option whereby the flight crew can just type in the fuel required on the FMC and once set, a green light will light up on the fuel hose connection point prompting the bowser to start pumping. Minimises the need for the crew to come down. No need for anyone to open the fuel control panel on ground.
Some Airbuses have the option whereby the flight crew can just type in the fuel required on the FMC and once set, a green light will light up on the fuel hose connection point prompting the bowser to start pumping. Minimises the need for the crew to come down. No need for anyone to open the fuel control panel on ground.
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Ad Hoc Cargo - cost of fuel
When calculating sector fuel it is important, especially for Ad hoc cargo flights, to determine the cost of uplifting fuel at destination. If for example you were transitting Tripoli with cargo for Njimena and then on to Jo'burg for crew rest and another charter, it would work out far cheaper to load over and above sector fuel and plan to land at Max Ldg Wt at Njimena. If this didn't allow you to get to Jo'burg without refuelling it would at least mean you were picking up only what was absolutely necessary. It's a long time since I have done anything like that but I seem to remember fuel was approx $250 a tonne in Tripoli and $900 a tonne in Njimena. It is of course a balancing act as you have to calculate the penalty in cost of extra fuel burnt as you are heavier against the saving you make by picking up minimum fuel at expensive airfields.
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I'm harking back to Laker BAC1-11 days here but no one has mentioned the two packets of fags from the bar for the refulellers!
This ensures that if a few aircraft arrive around the same time, say Saturday morning, Palma, then you get the bowser first!
This ensures that if a few aircraft arrive around the same time, say Saturday morning, Palma, then you get the bowser first!
Sheds
Bloody Sheds used to soak a fueller that wasn't used to them (And some that were). Typical Irish design overflow pipe above the gauges AND you had to keep tapping the gauges to make sure they were reading correctly.
I used to take a brolly with me...just in case!
Fuelling a AN124 was an experience, all gauges in Russian so the loady used to do that part...
OB
I used to take a brolly with me...just in case!
Fuelling a AN124 was an experience, all gauges in Russian so the loady used to do that part...
OB
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