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Beware Lear Guys

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Had this happen to me in a Lear 35 at SJC about 9 years ago... We were overnight and the next day the FBO called me and said "Your airplane is tipping over"... I was like "Huh???" Fortunately they got a tire under the tip tank before it hit the ground...

Turns out we had a very leaky crossflow valve and the plane was sitting on a slight slope... Well after sitting for hours over night, fuel slowly leaked from one side to the other...

Made for an interesting day!
 
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That photo was taken at MWCR- Grand Cayman.

At Grand Cayman the fueler is a guy who just came from fueling a 737 or 767. He doesn't know $hit about your little airplane (or mine.)

Good op procedures say to stay with your aircraft during refueling. I would definately agree in international ops.

That photo is good training material.
 
In my past life as a lineman (many years ago) I saw more than one Lear in this condition. Some due to mechanical irregularities, more due to linemen. I don't remember exactly, but you put something like 50 gallons in one side, 100 in the other, 100 in the first and so on until topped off. I've watched guys try topping off each separately.

Same holds true for the old MU2's. I watched a guy start at the top of the ladder fueling a tip tank and slowly take steps down the ladder as the wingtip lowered. He only had two runs of the ladder left when the pilot, in shock, ran out to stop him. They needed a pickup with the ladder in the bed to get to the other tip to begin fueling that side.

Oh the days....

2000Flyer
 
yup, I think 50,150,150 etc...

anyone who does not stay around during refueling is simply asking for trouble!!!

:rolleyes:
 
Anyone who flies or fuels Lears for long enough will run into this sort of situation. Either from a faulty x-flow valve, a valve not closed before turning the batteries off, or an incompetent/lazy/poorly trained fueler.

An a former line-dude friend of mine said that the proper method of topping off a near-empty MU-2 requires something like 13 trips up and down the ladder. Just make sure you stretch afterwards and drink plenty of water.........
 
Just a little of info.....About two to three years ago there was a fueler in BCT who was told to"level the Lear 35" on the ramp. He was fairly new from what I can remember and instead of adding fuel to the other tank to balance the aircraft, he went out and tried to put air in the tire with a 3000 psi bottle. He was killed instantly when the wheel hub exploded and there was significant damage to the a/c.

makes you wonder......


Lear-
 
Twenty series lears..... 125 gallon imballance is the limit while fueling.... so.... 125, 250, 250...ect

That's a great picture..... classic...


hmmmm.... maybe I should walk back to plane just one more time to check that x-flow valve.....
 
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Gulfstream 200 said:
anyone who does not stay around during refueling is simply asking for trouble!!!

:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Amen brother! I'm sometimes amazed on both the Falcon and Ultra how many linemen are clueless.

I remember the good old days fueling old JetStars. There were more switches than a 727 FE panel (sarcasm), just for fueling! Finally Lockheed or some vendor got smart and hard wired all the switches to where you just flipped a couple for the fueling process.

The MU2 and orinial Turbo Commanders were an exercise running back and forth and climbing the ladder to alternately fueling each tank.

2000Flyer
 
Are you sure it isnt a 3- wheel motion hydraulic kit? Wheres the 20in dubs with the Dayton Spinners?

Same Thing Happened to us down in Laredo, suspect x-flow valve.
 
There is a company based at my airport with three MU-2's, if they call for fuel, it keeps two guys busy for over an hour. If only one guy is available to go up there, he is gone for about 2 hours. Its a blast doing that in the winter.
 
I laugh, but the I had a co-pilot leave the cross flow valve open and I never checked that it was closed... got a early morning wakeup call from the cleaners that the a/c was inches from hitting the wing. 7 pilots sitting on the wing to get the plane in a position that it could be towed out of the hanger to fuel the side that was now empty...that made for a good picture that you won't see on airliners.net


...so there are those that have and those that will when it comes to older lears...
 
Yep. had a forgetful capt leave the x-flow open once too, made the FO look bad;)
 
fuel

It is 125 a side max refueling imbalance.for the lears with Tip tanks. This picture typically happens when the the flapper valves in the tip tanks does work properly and allows a small amount of fuel to drain through it eventually putting the wing on the ramp.

After you close the hatch it is good practice to put your ear to the tip tank and listen for the trickling of fuel through the flapper valve before heading to the hotel....especially if not sitting on an even ramp.

MArk
 
now, what could possibly cause those flapper valves to unseat?
 
seat

If you have ever seen a "flapper" valve all it is a vertical peice of aluminum that is held on the seat by the weight of the fuel and flaps back and forth...allows fuel to flow one way and not the other if working properly. . However, sometimes the seat gets distorted or some kind of partical gets caught under it causing fuel to slowly seep under them. Happens alot more then a crossflow valve as there are no lights that tell you when they are not fully closed like the crossflow valve does.

Mark
 
What He Said:D ;)
 

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