Fuel jettison system
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsBarton H. Snow, Donald F. Sargisson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Fuel is selectively jettisoned through the engine of an aircraft by way of a normally closed, solenoid-operated jettison valve which is fed from the boost pump in the engine fuel system. The jettison valve is servo activated by the main fuel flow so that the engine must be running for the opening of the solenoid valve to occur. For an engine having an augmenter, other interlocks are provided to prevent the jettison of fuel when the augmenter is in use and to preclude the ignition function to the augmenter while fuel is being jettisoned.
Claims13
An improved fuel jettison system for an aircraft jet engine of the type having a main fuel line and a fuel supply pump for pumping fuel to the engine, wherein the improvement comprises:
- a. pipe means connected to the discharge end of the pump to provide for the overboard discharge of fuel during certain periods of flight;
- b. valve means placed within said pipe means to selectively regulate the discharge flow of fuel;
- and
- c. means responsive to a predetermined pressure in the main fuel line of the engine to activate the valve means for selective operation.
An improved fuel jettison system for an aircraft jet engine of the type having a fuel supply pump for pumping fuel to the engine and to an augmenter wherein the improvement comprises:
- a. pipe means connected to the discharge end of the pump to provide for the overboard discharge of fuel during certain periods of flight;
- b. valve means placed within said pipe means to selectively regulate the discharge flow of fuel;
- and
- c. means to prevent the operation of the augmenter during periods of fuel jettison operation.
An improved method of jettisoning fuel from an aircraft having a fuel supply pump for pumping fuel to an engine and to an augmenter, wherein the improvement comprises the steps of:
- a. providing a jettison pipe from the fuel supply pump to an overboard location on the aircraft;
- b. preventing the operation of the augmenter;
- and
- c. pumping at least a substantial portion of the discharge flow of said fuel supply pump along said jettison pipe to provide for the overboard discharge of fuel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.