Flash points of fuel types

[Hardy Heinlin]

Good evening,

like in PS1, different fuel types are also available in PSX.

As we all know, fuel types with a lower freezing point also have a lower flash point which may vary from 38°C (e.g. Jet A) down to 28°C (e.g. TS-1).

Could this difference of 10° affect the safety design of the 747-400 in any way?

In the sim, fuel tanks may explode only in a collision with aircraft or terrain -- in such extreme cases the fuel type won't make any difference anyway.

As for nacelle fires: A normally running engine is always on fire, at temps over 200°C, independent of the flash point. So, regarding nacelle protection, there's no special effect here either.


Cheers,

|-|ardy

[Hardy Heinlin]

Ah, wait, ... in PS1 there was an explosion delay: If an engine fire couldn't be extinguished, the tanks exploded after some minutes.

In PSX, the fuel type could influence this delay. Of course, this would be rather a gimmick than of any educational use, but it would cost only one line of code.

Some full flight sims also offer inextinguishable engine fires. I wonder what consequences they model. Will the fire last forever? What is the educational purpose of this? Land as fast as possible when the fire couldn't be extinguished within x seconds?

[John Golin]

Don't the engines fall off the wing after a period of time - the bolts are designed to fail?

[Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers]

I am not sure the shear bolts still exist. After the El Al flight dropped two engines over Amsterdam, the design philosophy was changed and it was no longer considered a good idea to allow engines to break free. The bolts were replaced and the pylons reinforced, in order to keep the engines on the wing no matter what.

KLM, having a large maintenance facility near Schiphol, saw an opportunity and developed a mod which then got sold to many other operators. They had dedicated tooling and supports etc. available and could do the job in a few days.


747 engine pylons get reinforced at KLM Maintenance

[John Golin]

Interesting! I did not know that!