FILL THEM ' UP

(A) Maïduguri With each charter recap came the fuel data information.

We new exactly beforehand if the fuel would be “credit” or “cash” and who the provider would be . In headquarters, a lady working in fuel administration was in regular touch with our major aviation fuel suppliers and, based on the current price of jet A.1 would recommend the utilisation of such or such “major”. On occasions, especially in some of the African nations, fuel had to be paid cash in those locations where we flew only “episodically” and where we had no close local relationship with the fuelling companies or the airport authorities.

Filling up a B.747 with some 220.000 lbs of “Jet.A.1” was a lengthy affair, as lengthy as counting the banknotes when came the time to pay the bill in "cash" locations.

Prices were “inplane” which meant that it included the service of delivering the fuel all the way up to the tanks.

On the cockpit door, on the flight crew side, were some kind of hard or soft plastic receptacles containing “small size” vital information including aircraft and operators FAA information, aircraft ownership information, and the most important of all : the aviation fuel card opening our rights to fill up the airplane and have the bill sent directly to Los Angeles, thus saving us carrying hundred of thousand of dollars on each trip. In most “cash” locations, the invoice to be paid before releasing the airplane was presented in US dollars. In some other “weird” place, even if the bill was provided in US dollars, one had to go to an airport “foreign exchange” counter, and convert the money in local currency to be given to the fuel supplier.

(Transporting gasoline by road...but it could be also Jet A.1 "kerosene" on the way to an airport?)

Of course, the exchange rate at that counter was not the official one taken form the days’s Wall Street Journal, or the Financial Times, but as time pressed and we just wanted to get the hell out, we had no choice but going through a kind of rigmarole which I always suspected to be some kind of a scam in which everyone along the line would get a “cut” and walk happily to the bank, glad to have cheated on a US carrier. On lucky days, events would unfold in a civilized fashion, on an unlucky day, things could be very difficult, ranging from a strike of the fueller’s union, to a dysfunctional bowser or dispenser.

On a DC 8 airplane, the charter mechanic often stayed under the wing, a strategic location to take the right decision if a technical issue surfaced during refuel , whilst the loadmaster, if available at that time, would be sitting at the flight engineer station, monitoring the gauges and ensuring that the proper valves were closed according the quantity of fuel required in each tank as per the fuelling manual instruction hosted in the cockpit with the rest of the documentation.

(Fuelling a modern jet, better watch it ...overfuelling may happen....)

I vividly remember the first time I helped fuelling a DC8 with some kind of “pride” as if I had tanked-up general aviation airplanes before on so many occasions that I cannot recall, it was the very first time I was invited to “lend a hand” in such a “technical operation” giving some additional meaning to my activity as a loadmaster. Occasionally, the personnel of the fuelling company would be invited on board for a couple of soft drinks and a couple of dollars would change hands to show our gratitude at having been served before waiting passenger planes.

There were occasions when things would turn sour and we ended up with an airplane stuck far away from home in a “not so hospitable” place where a wild cat strike was hampering airport operation. In the midst of civil war in Chad, a couple of hours after taking off from N’Djamena airport, we had landed in Maïduguri, a major Nigerian town , capital of the Borno state (Nigeria is a Federal Republic neighboring Benin, Cameroun and Chad) to refuel as per the charter briefing instructions.

Unfortunately, the airport fuel tanks were empty as the closest refinery plant was experiencing some kind of technical problems. The obvious solution was to get bowsers from an other location, unfortunately far away enough thus justifying a decent “unplanned” crew rest.(1) Nigeria being a country of religious plurality, we decided that we should look for an accommodation fitting the best our “western” culture and preferably not too far from a watering hole were, we hoped, cold bottles of King Fisher beer (75 cl..) would be waiting for us.

Finding the ideal place took us some time and the end result, although far from the international standards, was acceptable : 3 rooms for 5 crew members…it was decided that the captain would sleep alone, the first-officer and the Flight-engineer would share a room and the support personnel ( a gentle pipe-smoking German charter mechanic based in Frankfurt and myself, based wherever there was a plane needing my services) would share the last room .

(King Fisher beer....India and Nigeria...a must.....it comes in 75cl bottles..)

The room came complete, with a black and white TV, and a toilet seat “in the open”, unseparated from the rest of the bedroom. To this day, I can still see the pipe-smoking mechanic attending to his “business” whilst reading the latest issue of the “Allgemeine Zeitung” as If all of this was a “normal situation”. Using the company provided ATT phone cards, I had managed to contact Los Angeles by telephone and since there was nothing else to do but wait, we all went looking for a close encounter with “King Fisher” .

The hotel owner being an “observant” Moslem, beer was not available on site and this gave us even more reasons to go on a “wild search”. I cannot remember who had the idea first, and I would probably say that the opportunity “just surfaced” as after twenty five minutes, in a different part of the town, we found some kind of a “strange” place. On the wall was a large metal poster showing the picture of an ice cold bottle of beer and decided of course to walk in.

(Hotel room in Maïduguri : better ensure that toilets ARE separate...)

In the center of the building was a pleasant courtyard, a few tables and chairs and the “master of the place" was quickly around to take the orders. No women could be seen, but we were not surprised as in many Moslem countries, segregation is often a part of the local culture. Our beers now served were by far more important than cultural differences.

Overlooking the courtyard, facing a square mezzanine running on all four sides of the building, we could see wooden doors and assumed that we were in a kind of "cheaper" hotel for" local travellers.

"We should have decided to stay here” someone said “ at least, they have beer”. A couple of hours later, as the sun was now setting down, we could see quite a few women entering the rooms on the mezzanine...

“ Look at the maids on the first floor, they must be getting the rooms ready for a bunch of travellers” someone said…We could hear noisy talks, women exchanging in Kanuri, a local language and as we were ready for an other round of beer, the "master of the place" came to us and gently said: “ Would you like a girl to go with your beers, I am just opening for the evening… “

And then , we realized that we had “landed” in a bordello…

(1) The evening before, some of us ended up in the half destroyed night-club of a half-destroyed hotel run by a couple of French expatriates just a few miles off N'Djamena airport where we had delivered a planeload of emergency tents . Chad was in the midst of a civil war. Of course it was hot, of course the beer was cold, of course the night was;...short and eventful.

(B) Aviation fuelling

(when it was written, this post was intended to be placed in an "internal company document" circulated through various types of audiences, not necessarily familiar with "specialized" aspects of airl transport)

If fueling and airplane used in general aviation is already a delicate operation , just think how delicate it can be to fuel a modern jet used in commercial aviation to carry often over 300 passengers from point “A” to point ”B”. It takes trained people to conduct this operation, regardless of the place in the world where “refuelling” is conducted. Doing the wrong thing may have a disastrous effect on airplane, passengers or both. Just like for a car engine, there are various types and grades of fuel for aircraft engines. Civilian and military jet airplane use a type of fuel known as “kerosene” with a usual designation as "Jet A1 Fuel".

(A "dispenser" truck . It connects the "hydrant" system and pumps up fuel into the airplane tanks)

Just like it is for car gasoline or gasoil, Jet A1 fuel is refined in specialized plants and can be stored in huge tanks close (but not too close) to airports. Once refined, the oil, now "chnaged" into fuel may be transported by road in tanks from the refining plant to the fuel storage location (often referred to as “fuel farm”) on or off airport. Fuel tanks may contain several hundred thousand liters or gallons (*).

On occasions, to reduce both risks and costs, Jet Fuel A 1 may be carried underground using an existing dedicated pressurized pipeline connecting directly the refining plant and the storage “fuel farm” and then the “fuel farm to various “outlets” located on the various airplane parking spots.

(Airport aviation fueling explained to children and beginners (like me)

A given refining plant will produce indifferently Jet A1 fuel for any fuel company commercializing that product. These fuel companies may have been known in the past as the “seven sisters”. (**) When you board a flight, you may see their name on fuel trucks at the airport, associated with the word “Air” indicating that the product is sold under their ”colors” (e.g. Air Total, Air BP…) but that the product is specially dedicated to aviation.

For any airlines, buying Jet Fuel A1 from one of the major fuel companies is done through negotiating based on quantities bought and actual or expected price of crude oil. Price is usually expressed in dollar per gallon, and is often indicated as “in plane” which means that the airline is not only buying the Jet Fuel A1 but also buying the service of delivering this Jet Fuel A1 in its airplanes, exactly like 40 years ago , service attendants would fill up your car . Negotiating the best possible price is of course important as fuel is a large part of operating costs.

Depending on the airport, Jet Fuel A1 may be brought from the fuel farm or fuel storage location in a big “truck” called also “bowser”. This truck will deliver the fuel into the airplane using a pumping system sending the fuel from the truck tank to the airplane tanks. In other occasions, Jet Fuel A1 will simply circulate pressurized in an underground pipeline on which special trucks can connect to transfer the fuel from the underground network to the airplane tanks. In any case, the company managing the “ fuel farm” will keep track of which airline is buying how much fuel and on which date so that correct invoicing can be conducted later on at the correct price !

(An Aviation fuel card : we had one in each airplane of the fleet...usually ! )

The final quantity of fuel loaded up on an airplane is the result of a complex calculation which is based on airplane’s fuel performance and consumption specificities and take in consideration at least the following elements -Taxiing time (Consumption of fuel when airplane is moving on the ground) -Flight time to destination ( knowing that the airplane is using xxx liters or gallons of fuel each hour) -Flight time to a possible alternate airport should thee destination airport be unreachable -Reserve fuel which can vary depending on a wide range of factors -depending on airlines procedures, possibly some extra fuel at captain’s discretion ( the chief pilot may want to know the justification….)

The addition of all these figures will produce a total of jet fuel to be pumped in the tanks of the airplane. This figure is often known as F.O.B (Fuel on Board ) or Final Fuel and given by “operation” to the fueling company, the airline personnel responsible for the fueling operation, and of course to flight crew members . Fueling operation are monitored by trained personnel to ensure that only the right quantity of fuel is carried on the airplane and that fueling systems are used in accordance with airplane operating or maintenance manual.

(Connected to the hydrant : "Fill them'up"..)

Regular checks are conducted to ensure that no condensation water is present in Jet Fuel A1, especially when a plane has been “resting” (***)for a while. Airline auditors will also conduct periodical audits in fuel farm or fuel storage location to ensure the fuel delivered to their airline is compliant with the airline requirements as well as the refining and storage plants commitments .

(*) In the aviation world, fuel quantities may be express in Liters ( in French speaking countries) or US gallons ( different from an Imperial gallon)

(**) The “seven sisters” : BP, Chevron, Royal Dutch (Shell) , Exxon, Mobil, Texaco, Esso. These are the biggest, but other smaller companies are also present on airports,worldwide, such as Air Total.

(***) Before flying a large jet, especially when the plane has been sitting for a while, fuel samples are taken from the tank to check for presence of condensation water, and get rid of it. The water, heavier, will be in the bottom of the tank. All commercial airlines have procedures to check aviation fuel to detect presence of water or other possible contamination.