Airframe Oral & Practical Study Guide: Fuel Systems

Airframe
Oral & Practical Study Guide: Fuel Systems

Study Materials
Aviation Maintenance Technician Series Airframe textbook, Volume 2
Pages 583-649
ASA, Inc.
Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 23

Federal Aviation Administration
Typical Oral Questions

1. What are two reasons Prist is added to the fuel that is used in a turbojet aircraft?
Prist is a biocidal agent that (1) kills the scum-forming bacteria in the fuel tank, and (2) acts as an
antifreeze agent, lowering the freezing point of the entrained water that is released from the fuel.
2. What are two types of fuel cells that are used in modern aircraft?
Integral fuel cells (cells that are a sealed-off portion of the structure) and bladder-type cells.
3. Why are fuel tanks divided into compartments or have baffles installed in them?
The compartments or baffles keep the fuel from surging back and forth as the aircraft changes its
attitude in flight.
4. What is meant by an integral fuel cell?

A part of the structure in which all of the seams and joints are sealed so they will be fuel tight. The
structure itself then becomes the fuel tank.
5. Where are fuel system strainers located?

One strainer is located in the outlet to the tank, and the main strainer is located in the fuel line
between the outlet of the fuel tank and the inlet to the fuel metering device.
6. What are three uses of a centrifugal booster pump that is installed in an aircraft fuel tank?
Booster pumps are used to produce fuel pressure for starting the engine, to keep the fuel from vapor
locking at high altitude, and to transfer fuel from one tank to another.
7. What is meant by a compensated engine-driven fuel pump?

An engine-driven fuel pump whose pressure relief valve is acted upon by the pressure of the
atmosphere. A compensated pump varies its outlet fuel pressure so it will stay a constant amount higher
than the pressure of the air that is entering the carburetor.
8. Why do engine-driven fuel pumps have a bypass valve in them?

The bypass valve allows fuel from the booster pump to flow around the engine-driven pump
mechanism for starting the engine and to supply the engine with fuel if the engine-driven pump should
fail.
9. Why must an aircraft fuel valve have a detent in its operating mechanism?
The detent gives the pilot a positive indication by feel when the selector valve is in the full ON and full
OFF position.
10. What characteristic of the fuel is measured with the mass-flow fuel flowmeter that is used with
turbine engine aircraft?
The density of the fuel.
11. What is used as a flowmeter for a fuel-injected, horizontally opposed aircraft engine?
A pressure gage that measures the pressure drop across the injector nozzles in the engine.
12. What is meant by a cross-feed system in an aircraft fuel system?

A cross-feed system allows fuel from any tank to flow to any engine.
13. Why do some aircraft have provisions for jettisoning fuel in flight?
Aircraft that are certificated with a higher takeoff weight than their allowable landing weight must have
provision for jettisoning fuel. This allows enough fuel to be dumped to bring the weight down to that
allowed for landing in case an emergency occurs before this amount of fuel can be burned off.
14. What must be done to a welded fuel tank before it can be repaired by welding?
All of the fuel vapors must be purged by flowing live steam through the tank, by soaking it in boiling
water, or by chemically neutralizing the fumes.
15. What safety precautions must be taken before a person enters the fuel cell of a large aircraft?
The cell must be thoroughly purged of all fumes, the person entering the cell must wear proper safety
equipment, and there must be a person standing by on the outside of the cell.
16. What is meant by a single-point fueling system?

A pressure fueling system in which the fuel is pumped into the aircraft through an underwing fueling
port. The fuel flows into a manifold, and then into the correct fuel tank as selected at the fueling station.
17. What gas is used to purge a fuel tank of all fuel vapors?
Carbon dioxide or nitrogen.
18. Why do turbojet aircraft normally have fuel temperature indicators?

Because of the low temperatures at which these aircraft operate, it is possible for water to precipitate
out of the fuel and freeze on the filters, shutting off fuel to the engines. The temperature can be kept
above freezing by directing it through a fuel heater as is needed.
19. How is a fuel leak indicated on a reciprocating-engine-powered aircraft?

The dye that is in the gasoline stains the area around the leak.
20. What is the purpose of a drip gage in the fuel tank of a large aircraft?
The drip gage allows a mechanic to check the fuel level in a tank from the bottom of the tank.
21. What safety precautions should be taken before an aircraft is defueled?

Be sure that the fuel truck is properly located, the truck and the aircraft are electrically grounded, all
electrical power except that needed for the defueling operation is turned off, and the fuel is returned to the
proper truck or other container.
22. What markings must appear near the filler opening of the fuel tanks on reciprocating-engine-
powered aircraft, and on a turbine-powered aircraft?
On a reciprocating engine powered-aircraft: the word FUEL and the minimum grade of fuel.
On a turbine engine powered aircraft: the word FUEL, the permissible fuel designations, the
maximum permissible fueling supply pressure, and the maximum permissible defueling pressure.
Typical Practical Projects

1. Properly identify the fuel in the tank of a reciprocating-engine-powered aircraft by its color.
2. Drain all of the sumps of an aircraft fuel system and check for the presence of water.
3. Remove and clean the fuel strainers in an aircraft fuel system. Reinstall the strainers and check
them for leakage.
4. Locate and identify the fuel tank probes, the amplifier, and the indicator of an electronic fuel
quantity system. Explain to the examiner the correct way to calibrate such a system.
5. Inspect the fuel selector valves of an aircraft and determine whether or not there is positive
indication of the valve being fully on and fully off.
6. Locate in the proper documentation, the correct grade of fuel to be used in an aircraft specified by
the examiner.
7. Demonstrate to the examiner the correct way to adjust the fuel pressure that is produced by an
engine-driven fuel pump.
8. Explain to the examiner the correct way of repairing a leak in an integral fuel tank.
9. Explain to the examiner the correct way to check a bladder-type fuel cell for leakage and the
correct way to repair this leakage.
10. Demonstrate to the examiner the correct way to use a fuel drip gage to measure fuel quantity.
11. Explain to the examiner the correct procedure to follow if a reciprocating engine-powered aircraft
has been fueled with turbine fuel, and the engine has been run.

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Airframe

Oral & Practical Study Guide: Fuel Systems

Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 23

Typical Oral Questions

4. What is meant by an integral fuel cell?

5. Where are fuel system strainers located?

7. What is meant by a compensated engine-driven fuel pump?

8. Why do engine-driven fuel pumps have a bypass valve in them?

12. What is meant by a cross-feed system in an aircraft fuel system?

16. What is meant by a single-point fueling system?

18. Why do turbojet aircraft normally have fuel temperature indicators?

19. How is a fuel leak indicated on a reciprocating-engine-powered aircraft?

21. What safety precautions should be taken before an aircraft is defueled?

Typical Practical Projects

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