Fuel and PGU-28 in parked Hornets

[DmitriKozlowsky]

Just curious w/o having to dig through NATOPS minutia. Are Hornets parked with fuel and gun rounds (PGU-28/B ?), when not on alert? I figure tanks are inerted and fuel system purged by gnd crew after flight.

 

Just a suggestion. When shutting down and telling chief to place chocks, crew should automatically place inlet, exhaust, and pitot/ADC port covers. I imagine that would be SOP for all a/c types of every service.

 

Curious of anyone ever did F/A-18E mod that uses C pit , dynamics, and damage model ? Is it even applicable as E is larger , longer , and heavier then legacy C/D Hornet.

 

Check out Block 3 Advanced Hornet. Very classified, but supposedly amazing. Like an F-15E and F-35, but for naval aviation. Spine tanks, stealth weapons pod, reduced RCS, F-35 like DAS sensor. F-15E dark grey low vis scheme, though it does not appear to be Have Glass V dark RCS reducing paint for Vipers.

IMHO most important new weapons (classified) for Hornet is LRASM, and powered JSOWs.

I cant believe that US Government would clear adv Block 3 for export to India. I'd rather they go to Australia. I highly doubt that Luftwaffe would choose Adv. Block 3 to replace Tornados, instead of more Typhoons.

 

Thanks.

[mongo52]

Unless there was a maintenance driven reason jets would be fully fueled after recovering. And covers were generally only put one when in the hangar (ashore or afloat)

[G.J.S]

I’ve never known recovered aircraft be fuelled to then just sit on the ramp! There’s a safety aspect (why have prospective fire bombs parked everywhere), plus it’s not that common to actually fully fuel an aircraft.

When I served, we only took fuel calculated to the mission plus contingency, no more.

Any gain in performance you can have at lift off is life, why take off at max weight?

We only fully fuelled when deploying, and even then we only got max fuel when on the tanker, we would lift from the base typically around 60-70% fuelled.

On the ramp, you de-arm an aircraft also, although gun rounds were usually left alone if not fired on previous sortie. Assuming that the aircraft was to be regenerated within 24hrs.

Intake blanks, exhaust blanks, depends.

Edited July 13, 2020 by garyscott

[DmitriKozlowsky]

Well I ask becouse , after shutdown, nothing more happens. While in RL, there would be a gnd crew doing their thing. Post flight checks,maintenance debrief, then sign over of the aircraft to the crew chief. So to somewhat emulate that, after shutdown, I go into REARM-REFUEL and have crew download all weapons, gun rounds, countermeasures, and fuel. So should the fuel be zeroed out, same for gun ammunition? Jet fuel is a toxic , corrosive substance, that should not be left in tank, that can vaporize. That was one of lessons learned by FAA from TWA 800, midair breakup. Fuel vapors goit ignited by electrical short. Yes I know that Navy uses different grade, that has higher flash point, thus more safe then civilian turbofan fuel grade.

[Rainmaker]

I’ve never known recovered aircraft be fuelled to then just sit on the ramp! There’s a safety aspect (why have prospective fire bombs parked everywhere), plus it’s not that common to actually fully fuel an aircraft.

When I served, we only took fuel calculated to the mission plus contingency, no more.

Any gain in performance you can have at lift off is life, why take off at max weight?

We only fully fuelled when deploying, and even then we only got max fuel when on the tanker, we would lift from the base typically around 60-70% fuelled.

On the ramp, you de-arm an aircraft also, although gun rounds were usually left alone if not fired on previous sortie. Assuming that the aircraft was to be regenerated within 24hrs.

Intake blanks, exhaust blanks, depends.

 

Sounds like you have never been on fighters.

[Rainmaker]

Well I ask becouse , after shutdown, nothing more happens. While in RL, there would be a gnd crew doing their thing. Post flight checks,maintenance debrief, then sign over of the aircraft to the crew chief. So to somewhat emulate that, after shutdown, I go into REARM-REFUEL and have crew download all weapons, gun rounds, countermeasures, and fuel. So should the fuel be zeroed out, same for gun ammunition? Jet fuel is a toxic , corrosive substance, that should not be left in tank, that can vaporize. That was one of lessons learned by FAA from TWA 800, midair breakup. Fuel vapors goit ignited by electrical short. Yes I know that Navy uses different grade, that has higher flash point, thus more safe then civilian turbofan fuel grade.

 

 

So, in RL, it’s really wasted effort to download weapons unless you are doing a reconfig, you’ve reached flight limits (some weapons have them and have to be inspected), it needs some form of maintenance that requires downloading (hargar, jacked aircraft, etc). This is USAF Air Force experience, so there may be differences with some branches or exceptions on a carrier, for instance. I have been around F-18s, F-14s, Tornadoes, etc and with other US guys, Brits, Aussies, etc and their practices didn’t differ much from ours. Forward firing munitions have some different requirements than bombs, but in this case, most of it is treated the same. Munitions take a while to download so it’s not in anyone’s best interest to expend a lot of time unless the safety aspect, maintenance, or next flight really requires it.

 

As for the gas yes, specially with aviation fuel. Vapors are way more hazardous than the fuel itself. Was always typical for us to fuel after flight. Always best to know about potential fuel problems in advance. Sometimes you leave them a little short of full to account for thermal expansion so they don’t vent gas during temp swings.

Edited July 13, 2020 by Rainmaker

[G.J.S]

Sounds like you have never been on fighters.

 

Mudmover, wasn’t into Hollywood. :thumbup:

[Rainmaker]

Mudmover, wasn’t into Hollywood. :thumbup:

 

Tanker/drone pilots need someone to hang out with. :)

[G.J.S]

Tanker/drone pilots need someone to hang out with. :)

 

:lol: Amen. :pilotfly: