eagle5 Posted December 19, 2012 Report Share Posted December 19, 2012 While gassing up (avgas) what can happen if the fuel guy doesn't connect that cable to the helicopter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeloJunkie Posted December 19, 2012 Report Share Posted December 19, 2012 I would imagine that you could get a static discharge possibly followed by an immediate ignition of fuel vapors in/around the fuel tank! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindsey Posted December 19, 2012 Report Share Posted December 19, 2012 While gassing up (avgas) what can happen if the fuel guy doesn't connect that cable to the helicopter? What happens is you need to chew that fueler out. /former fueler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearly Retired Posted December 20, 2012 Report Share Posted December 20, 2012 We are talking outdoors, right? Not fueling in a closed space someplace? As someone who has fueled many, many piston helicopters over the years, sometimes without a grounding cable (gasp!), I can tell you: Nothing happens. As long as it's a skid-equipped helicopter parked on the earth IT IS GROUNDED - nothing more needs to be done to the airframe. Do you feel a need to ground the nozzle to the airframe before opening the cap? Go right ahead. Most nozzles I've seen no longer have the little grounding plug/clip. So there's your answer: Nothing happens. Something *could* happen, but typically does not :-/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred0311 Posted December 20, 2012 Report Share Posted December 20, 2012 I'm a fueler and have seen a spark jump six inches from my bonding cable to the aircraft. Also the flow of fuel it's self builds up static. However this is with thousands of gallons going into an airliner not 15 or so into a Robinson. It's extremely unlikely something could happen but with the severity of the risk to the minimal effort to mitigate it I'm gonna bond every time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam32 Posted December 20, 2012 Report Share Posted December 20, 2012 Not hot fueling? Nothing at all will happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lelebebbel Posted December 22, 2012 Report Share Posted December 22, 2012 (edited) This is a helicopter grave on a station in Western Australia. The R44 burned down after it caught fire while refuelling from drums with a motorised pump, with no grounding obviously. They had used the same setup many times before, but this time apparently, the drums were a bit further away so the hose wasn't touching the ground between the aircraft and the pump. A static discharge happened, followed by a nice little fire. They do use ground wires now. Edited December 22, 2012 by lelebebbel 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBuzzkill Posted December 22, 2012 Report Share Posted December 22, 2012 Never underestimate the dangers of refueling. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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