Your airbus procedures : Fuel pumps ON or OFF during refueling ?
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you are talking about the A330 , i have lived many times where people were not waiting for the "flap open" msg , leading the APU not to start , fuel line not pressurized enough ...
"hey maintenance , the APU is not working" ... "oh yeah really...?"
permitting , allowing , these mean they can be done but not the best.
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EXACTLY !
"
Thousands of trips every single day and I’ve not heard of one problem caused by switching on the pumps."
not directly Sir , but using them when not needed will lead to an unserviceable pump , the MEL will have to be opened then ...
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Oh boy, you’ve got 200 hours and you’re already making up your own procedures. Even an experienced Captain cannot just vary or makeup his own procedures unless he has a very sound reason for doing so at the time.
SOP’s are there to be followed for a damn good reason and it usually involves saving your ass both during the event and after in any subsequent investigation.
STOP IT.
Follow your Airbus approved AFM FCOM and don’t make up stuff yourself mate.
It’s not hard surely.
p.s. what has the TAT got to do with fuel pump issues? Is there anything in the A320 FCOM that refers to TAT and fuel pump usage on the ground?
Is your TAT probe aspirated on the ground? Because if it’s sitting in the Sun it will over read, if it’s wet and windy it will under read. It’s not reliable until the Engines are running.
SOP’s are there to be followed for a damn good reason and it usually involves saving your ass both during the event and after in any subsequent investigation.
STOP IT.
Follow your Airbus approved AFM FCOM and don’t make up stuff yourself mate.
It’s not hard surely.
p.s. what has the TAT got to do with fuel pump issues? Is there anything in the A320 FCOM that refers to TAT and fuel pump usage on the ground?
Is your TAT probe aspirated on the ground? Because if it’s sitting in the Sun it will over read, if it’s wet and windy it will under read. It’s not reliable until the Engines are running.
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Hello,
a bit late reply..
My OMB says:
"if the FUEL MODE SEL pb-sw is unduly left in the MAN position on ground, when the CTR TK L+R XFR pb-sw are not in the OFF position, there is the possibility of fuel spillage. In this configuration, the center tank fuel transfer will not stop when the wing tank become full."
Cheers
a bit late reply..
My OMB says:
"if the FUEL MODE SEL pb-sw is unduly left in the MAN position on ground, when the CTR TK L+R XFR pb-sw are not in the OFF position, there is the possibility of fuel spillage. In this configuration, the center tank fuel transfer will not stop when the wing tank become full."
Cheers
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When i do the walk around and hear the fuel pumps running needlessly i feel a sense of waste. Why would i want to rush on a cockpit preparation one hour before the pumps will be needed.
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Around here its pretty hot in the summer, and general technique is to leave the fuel pumps OFF from engine shutdown until before start to avoid fuel hot warnings before takeoff(especially when tankering fuel into small airports). I cant say for facts if the pumps on actually affects the fuel temperature or not(logic would state so) as I've never paid that much attention to it. All I know is that the one time we did leave them on we had a fuel temp warning on line-up and had to return to ramp to put an extra 200kg colder fuel in to get away 
I know slightly OT from the topic, but just wanted to put this out here
-M
Edit: Location is in the mediterranean, not Finland ATM
I know slightly OT from the topic, but just wanted to put this out here
-M
Edit: Location is in the mediterranean, not Finland ATM
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Generally speaking I agree minimum electrical loads and changes during refuelling would be best practice (unfortunately in these times a seldom used term) as the oncoming fuel will increase the venting hence fumes from the aircraft tanks. Refuelling with an engine running, in my experience, would require both fuel Co. and airport Fire Service concurrence.
Use of booster pumps is often required during a de fuel or balancing, though some tanker / rig operators prefer to de couple during the later.
Use of booster pumps is often required during a de fuel or balancing, though some tanker / rig operators prefer to de couple during the later.
