Fueling practices

Have you ever fueled a GA aircraft inside a hangar?

  • Yes, all the time

    Votes: 6 24.0%

  • Yes, but only occasionally

    Votes: 6 24.0%

  • No, I have to taxi to a self-serve pump but I would if there was a fuel truck available

    Votes: 5 20.0%

  • No, the airport where I'm based forbids it, but I would if it was allowed here

    Votes: 1 4.0%

  • No, are you nuts? I'd blow up!

    Votes: 7 28.0%
  • Total voters
    25
  • Poll closed .
flyingcheesehead

flyingcheesehead

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OK, now I'm curious...

I know many of you own at least part of an aircraft, and most of those have it hangared.

The question is - Have you ever fueled your plane, or any other plane, in an open hangar?

I'd also REALLY like to know if there has ever been a documented case of a fire starting from doing so, especially with all other precautions taken (grounding cable, etc.)
 
Kent;

As a fueler and Airport Ramp Kid from many years ago we never fueled planes in a hanger. There was the fear of fumes that came from open fuel caps. Plus fuel being put into the tanks. Plus to fight a potential fire a hanger is the worst place to fight it. Many years ago I would fuel planes outside and never had any problems from the owneers.

I stilll when I put fuel in I want to be out side.

Great question


John j
 
Well we have no fuel truck at my airport so it is not even an answer.

At the nearby airport where I have friends who keep theri planes they do have a fuel truck. But according to the FBO the FAA forbids refueling in hangars. But no one has ever produced an FAA regulation that actually shows that. I guess it is more of a perceived safety rule than anything else.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
I'd also REALLY like to know if there has ever been a documented case of a fire starting from doing so, especially with all other precautions taken (grounding cable, etc.)
Click to expand...

Me too. I asked this question in the 10,000 gal MoGas thread and it went unanswered...at least for any environment with temps above 0dF.
 
John J said:
As a fueler and Airport Ramp Kid from many years ago we never fueled planes in a hanger.
Click to expand...

Same here, but customer service trumped this "rule" every time. If the man had his airplane back in the hangar already, we fueled it in the hangar with the door open. The FBO owner expected nothing but the best in customer service.

Our own planes, of course, we fueled before we put 'em back in the hangars. Easier that way too!
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Same here, but customer service trumped this "rule" every time. If the man had his airplane back in the hangar already, we fueled it in the hangar with the door open. The FBO owner expected nothing but the best in customer service.

Our own planes, of course, we fueled before we put 'em back in the hangars. Easier that way too!
Click to expand...

Interesting question. Odd that I never really considered it before. My personal habit is always to pull up to the pumps and fuel before putting the bird in the hangar. I don't think I'd worry about it as long as the doors were wide open. In the AF, we sometimes fueled while sitting in the cockpit with the engines running. Uploaded weapons the same way. I can't recall ever hearing of a mishap in either case.
 
smigaldi said:
But according to the FBO the FAA forbids refueling in hangars. But no one has ever produced an FAA regulation that actually shows that. I guess it is more of a perceived safety rule than anything else.
Click to expand...

I believe there is a fire code standard. I believe I have read it but haven't been successful in relocating it.

There is a big difference between the volatility of avgas and jet fuel.
 
I've been based at three airports. Two have no problem fueling in the hangar, the other never. There a story of a fire years ago but I've never heard any facts.

I do know there was a fire in the maintenance hangar when they drained fuel with no grounding bonding from the 172 wing to the container on the ground. Burned the wing off the plane. Quick action by a line person limited the damage to the one plane.
 
At one airport I was allowed to be fueled with door open, plane in T-hangar. At two others it was forbidden (and at the aforementioned airport, the policy was changed and issued by the airport management to prohibit fueling in T-hangars).

So, I have done it, but no more.
 
Does it count if the airplane's tail was in the t-hangar?
 
Did a little Goggling. Lots of local government codes regarding fueling aircraft. The source code is probably NFPA 407. Evidently, you only get to read it if you are willing to pay. Maybe our fire marshal has it.
 
At Canton/Akron (CAK) in Ohio, they allowed fueling in the hanger in the past. Then around 2-3 years ago they changed the policy. When I asked, they said that their new insurance policy did not allow it. I didn't question it nor ask to see policy, but that makes sense in todays liability driven world. Now that I've become accustomed to it and thought through the implications, fueling in the hanger feels like driving without my seat belt (no immediate sense of danger, but simply uncomfortable and unwise).

flyingcheesehead said:
OK, now I'm curious...

I know many of you own at least part of an aircraft, and most of those have it hangared.

The question is - Have you ever fueled your plane, or any other plane, in an open hangar?

I'd also REALLY like to know if there has ever been a documented case of a fire starting from doing so, especially with all other precautions taken (grounding cable, etc.)
Click to expand...
 
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