[Rcpete]

HI all, anyone know, who or where, I can get 50 gallon drums of Kero or Jet A.
Also, can some one explain why some maintenance , on full size jets, leaves, many gallons of Jet-a, that gets disregarded.
Rcpete

[Sparkfarmer]

If you live next to a maintenance facility, give em a call. You might get lucky.

For varying maintenance reasons, we sometimes need the tanks empty. Examples are re-weigh, component replacement. Putting an aircraft up on jacks sometimes requires de-fueling because we have weight limits when jacking. Also everytime an aircraft goes in for heavy maintenance it gets de-fueled.

For obvious reasons regulations governing aircraft jet fuel are very strict. Aircraft tanks can grow fungus, as well as collect water, therefore once fuel has been removed from an aircraft it is considered contaminted. Some companies will re-filter the fuel or whatever but I have never seen this done. Also fuel companies have designated fuel trucks for de-fueling to ensure it doesn't get mixed in with the fuel they sell.

Some smaller maintenance outfits will de-fuel and re-fuel with the same truck but they aren't technically suppose to.

Fuel trucks can suck out most of the fuel, but depending on the size of aircraft, there will be some residual. This is drained into buckets or hoppers using the water drains under the wings. This is the stuff that, if you know someone and your lucky, you could get your hands on. The reason I say you need to be lucky is most the time drained fuel is dumped into a a holding tank that is also where they dump used hydraulic fluid, oil, ...etc

I'm sure you'd get it for nothing as it's usually a pain in the ass for the company.

Good luck!

[Daren71]

Probably 80% of the fuel work on our planes require tank entry. This requires the tanks to be vented by forced air at all times when someone is going in. The air quality inside the tank is monitored all the time. Tank entry requires a minimum of 3 people, the person going in, a rescue person, and another first aid qualified. The person going in is trained for confined space, and they are wearing anti-static coveralls, and a fresh air breathing mask. We also use a pneumatic vacuum to clean out all the residual fuel hiding around ribs, pumps, etc...

As for what happens to the stuff we get out, you would be suprised at how many mechanics drive diesel vehicles.

Daren

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Sparkfarmer

The reason I say you need to be lucky is most the time drained fuel is dumped into a a holding tank that is also where they dump used hydraulic fluid, oil, ...etc


Good luck!

So what your saying is...Its been Pre-mixed for us?

[Sparkfarmer]

Originally Posted by vettster

So what your saying is...Its been Pre-mixed for us?

LOL.... Skydrol (hydraulic fluid) through your turbine would make for a very short flight! You want to intercept the fuel BEFORE it gets to the waiste bin!

Where do you jet guys usually get your fuel to begin with? can you just buy Jet-A at your local hobby shop or what?

[Guest]

I cant speak for the everyone, but a large amount of us like myself, buy Kero from CanadianTire in the 10L jugs.

[Pauld]

Our local airport has been selling us Jet-A right out of the pump. With taxes it costs about 12-13 bucks to fill a Canadian Tire jug. I'm sure if you can get waste fuel drained from airplanes for servicing it may come cheaper but the Jet-A we bought was new fuel with no potential for contaminants from other "stray" fluids. Price is certainly better than jugs from CT.

I keep lots of used CT jugs for this purpose however, the next time I may just steal a drum from work and fill the whole damn thing.

PaulD

[BigBreeze]

I looked in the yellow pages under "oil" i think, and saw many Bulk Fuel Providers. I called most of them, and they would sell me 20l of Kero or 45 gal drums, but it wasn't cheap....typically around $49-55 plus tax for the 20 litre jug....which makes the Cdn Tire 10 litre kero jug one of the better deals for small volumes! I'm sure 45 gals would be slightly cheaper though.

I'm lucky enough to have a friend who drives Pilatus PC-12's who set me up with discarded fuel from the wings whenever i want for a "good price."

[Sparkfarmer]

Originally Posted by Pauld

Our local airport has been selling us Jet-A right out of the pump. With taxes it costs about 12-13 bucks to fill a Canadian Tire jug. I'm sure if you can get waste fuel drained from airplanes for servicing it may come cheaper but the Jet-A we bought was new fuel with no potential for contaminants from other "stray" fluids. Price is certainly better than jugs from CT.

I keep lots of used CT jugs for this purpose however, the next time I may just steal a drum from work and fill the whole damn thing.

PaulD

My biggest worry, when using drained fuel, would be water. As far as "other contaminants" the risk is extremely low. You RC jet guys wouldn't really have to worry about the "fungus" as this stuff grows in tanks. I don't imagine RC Jet tanks stay filled with stangnant fuel long enaugh for this to be a real issue.

As far as water is concerned, in Jet fuel it is easily detectable. Water doesn't mix with jet fuel, and falls to the bottom. Looks like water bubbles in a glass of jet fuel.

The company I used to work for in YVR used to give the stuff away to guys driving diesels.

[Pauld]

Originally Posted by Sparkfarmer

My biggest worry, when using drained fuel, would be water. As far as "other contaminants" the risk is extremely low. You RC jet guys wouldn't really have to worry about the "fungus" as this stuff grows in tanks. I don't imagine RC Jet tanks stay filled with stangnant fuel long enaugh for this to be a real issue.

As far as water is concerned, in Jet fuel it is easily detectable. Water doesn't mix with jet fuel, and falls to the bottom. Looks like water bubbles in a glass of jet fuel.

The company I used to work for in YVR used to give the stuff away to guys driving diesels.

The fuel we have been buying is new pump fuel.

Wish I could find a place where I could get the "drained fuel" for free. Managed to get 1/2 a drum of the stuff once, ran it thru a filter with a water removal element and happily burned the stuff up.

PaulD