Air Canada Flight 143, commonly known as the Gimli Glider, was a Canadian scheduled domestic passenger flight between Montreal and Edmonton that ran out of fuel on Saturday, July 23, 1983, at an altitude of 41,000 feet (12,500 m), midway through the flight. The flight crew successfully glided the Boeing 767 to an emergency landing at a former Royal Canadian Air Force base in Gimli, Manitoba, which had been converted to a racetrack, Gimli Motorsports Park. It resulted in no serious injuries to passengers or persons on the ground, and only minor damage to the aircraft. The aircraft was repaired and remained in service until its retirement in 2008. This unusual aviation accident earned the aircraft the nickname "Gimli Glider."
Aerial refueling (en-us), or aerial refueling (en-gb), also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one aircraft to another while both aircraft are in flight. The two main refueling systems are probe-and-drogue, which is simpler to adapt to existing aircraft and the flying boom, which offers faster fuel transfer, but requires a dedicated boom operator station.
Aircraft engine controls provide a means for the pilot to control and monitor the operation of the aircraft's powerplant. This article describes controls used with a basic internal-combustion engine driving a propeller. Some optional or more advanced configurations are described at the end of the article. Jet turbine engines use different operating principles and have their own sets of controls and sensors.
An inerting system decreases the probability of combustion of flammable materials stored in a confined space. The most common such system is a fuel tank containing a combustible liquid, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, aviation fuel, jet fuel, or rocket propellant. After being fully filled, and during use, there is a space above the fuel, called the ullage, that contains evaporated fuel mixed with air, which contains the oxygen necessary for combustion. Under the right conditions this mixture can ignite. An inerting system replaces the air with a gas that cannot support combustion, such as nitrogen.
In aviation, a drop tank is used to describe auxiliary fuel tanks externally carried by aircraft. A drop tank is expendable and often capable of being jettisoned. External tanks are commonplace on modern military aircraft and occasionally found in civilian ones, although the latter are less likely to be discarded except in an emergency.
A fuel tank is a safe container for flammable fluids, often gasoline or diesel fuel. Though any storage tank for fuel may be so called, the term is typically applied to part of an engine system in which the fuel is stored and propelled or released into an engine. Fuel tanks range in size and complexity from the small plastic tank of a butane lighter to the multi-chambered cryogenic Space Shuttle external tank.
A self-sealing fuel tank (SSFT) is a type of fuel tank, typically used in aircraft fuel tanks or fuel bladders, that prevents them from leaking fuel and igniting after being damaged.
A floatstick is a device to measure fuel levels in modern large aircraft. It consists of a closed tube rising from the bottom of the fuel tank. Surrounding the tube is a ring-shaped float, and inside it is a graduated rod indicating fuel capacity. The float and the top of the rod contain magnets. The rod is withdrawn from the bottom of the wing until the magnets stick, the distance it is withdrawn indicating the level of the fuel.
The Learjet 25 is an American ten-seat, twin-engine, high-speed business jet aircraft manufactured by Learjet. It is a stretched version of the Learjet 24.
In automotive and aerospace engineering, a fuel gauge is an instrument used to indicate the amount of fuel in a fuel tank. In electrical engineering, the term is used for ICs determining the current State of Charge of accumulators.
In a fixed-wing aircraft, the spar is often the main structural member of the wing, running spanwise at right angles to the fuselage. The spar carries flight loads and the weight of the wings while on the ground. Other structural and forming members such as ribs may be attached to the spar or spars, with stressed skin construction also sharing the loads where it is used. There may be more than one spar in a wing or none at all. Where a single spar carries most of the force, it is known as the main spar.
The Rotax 912 is a horizontally-opposed four-cylinder, naturally-aspirated, four-stroke aircraft engine with a reduction gearbox. It features liquid-cooled cylinder heads and air-cooled cylinders. Originally equipped with carburetors, later versions are fuel injected. Dominating the market for small aircraft and kitplanes, Rotax produced its 50,000th 912-series engine in 2014. Originally available only for light sport aircraft, ultralight aircraft, autogyros and drones, the 912-series engine was approved for certified aircraft in 1995.
The Rotax 914 is a turbo-charged, four-stroke, four-cylinder, horizontally opposed aircraft engine with air-cooled cylinders and water-cooled cylinder heads. It is designed and built by the Austrian company BRP-Powertrain, owned by Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP), as part of its Rotax brand.
A surge tank is a standpipe or storage reservoir at the downstream end of a closed aqueduct, feeder pipe, or dam to absorb sudden rises of pressure, as well as to quickly provide extra water during a brief drop in pressure.
The Mudry CAP 10 is a two-seat training aerobatic aircraft first built in 1970 and still in production in 2007. The plane was developed from the Piel Super Emeraude and was born as the CP100. The name changed to CAP 10, CAP for 'Constructions Aéronautiques Parisiennes'. The CAP 10 was manufactured by Mudry in Bernay, France, bought by CAP Industries which then became Apex Aircraft. Following the bankruptcy of Apex in 2008, rights to produce spares were awarded to Dyn'Aviation. After the bankruptcy of DynAero in 2012, manufacture of spares was taken over by CEAPR in Darois.
An aircraft fuel system allows the crew to pump, manage, and deliver aviation fuel to the propulsion system and auxiliary power unit (APU) of an aircraft. Fuel systems differ greatly due to different performance of the aircraft in which they are installed. A single-engine piston aircraft has a simple fuel system; a tanker, in addition to managing its own fuel, can also provide fuel to other aircraft.
Flexible tanks are a kind of storage equipment for liquids such as water or oil. Compared to steel tanks, flexible tanks have many advantages, including lighter weight and being rustproof, foldable, and quicker and easier to set up. With the same capacity, an empty flexible tank may have just 10% of a steel tank's weight. The disadvantages of flexible tanks include lower durability and shorter longevity. Some flexible tanks can be used as transport containers on trucks, ships, or aeroplanes, with some suitable for use in airdrops, helicopter swing, or hauling water.
In aviation, usable fuel is the fuel on board an aircraft that can actually be used by its engines. The opposite of usable fuel is unusable fuel.
Aircraft fuel tanks are a major component of aircraft fuel systems. They can be classified into internal or external fuel tanks and can be further classified by method of construction or intended use. Safety aspects of aircraft fuel tanks were examined during the investigation of the 1996 TWA Flight 800 in-flight explosion accident.
Aeroflot Flight 3739 was a regularly scheduled Russian domestic flight from Irkutsk to Pulkovo Airport in Saint Petersburg that crashed during takeoff from Irkutsk International Airport on 9 February 1976. Twenty-four of the 114 people on board died in the accident.
