UAL395 and LH404 fuel dumps and diversions

Trailblazer

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United Airlines flight 935, a 777 dumped fuel over the UK today before returning to Heathrow.







 
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And the length. Is there any fuel dump picture that doesn't crop the end of the fuel trail?
Is the fuel crystallising momentarily?
 
And the length. Is there any fuel dump picture that doesn't crop the end of the fuel trail?
Is the fuel crystallising momentarily?
In this video you can see two planes dumping fuel. At 0:16 the camera zooms out, and it appears the trails are rather long.


JP-8 fuel can crystallize below -47 °C.
 
but fuel dumps dont happen at normal plane cruise altitudes right? so they are alot easier to see longer.
 
http://c141heaven.info/dotcom/tall_tales/aviation_fuels.pdf

When the commercial jet industry was developing in the 1950s, kerosene-type
fuel was chosen as having the best combinations of properties. Wide-cut jet
fuel (Jet B) still is used in some parts of Canada and Alaska because it is
suited to cold climates. But kerosene-type fuels – Jet A and Jet A-1 – predominate
in the rest of the world.
Jet A is used in the United States while most of the rest of the world uses
Jet A-1. The important difference between the two fuels is that Jet A-1 has a
lower maximum freezing point than Jet A (Jet A: – 40°C, Jet A-1: – 47°C).
The lower freezing point makes Jet A-1 more suitable for long international
flights, especially on polar routes during the winter.
Content from External Source
Exonn/Mobil avgas 100 says the freezing point is -58* C
http://www.exxonmobil.com/China-English/GFM/PDS/GLXXENCMFEMAvgas.aspx

As far as I know, the higher the flash-point, the more a solvent "attracts" water.
This is just a guess, based on my use of acetone and ISP (isopropyl alcohol)...there may be a name for the effect....I'll look.
EDIT: ....HYGROSCOPIC

Although, I'm not certain avgas (kerosene) is "miscibilic"...meaning it will not readily mix with water in it's room temp state. Alcohol (methanol) will though.
....and is why engines struggle or fail when water is in the fuel.

...and is why firefighters don't use water on a "non-miscible" solvent fire. But they may use water simply to cool the fire's heat,....and then use special "foams" to kill those solvent fires.
 
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Two photos taken at the moment when the plane turned back. Perhaps it was before the fuel dump began, as it looks like an ordinary short contrail.


Source

A photo from the plane:

Source
 
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especially on polar routes during the winter.
(I realise this is a quote from an external source.)

I don't think the temperature at cruise altitude in polar regions is all that cold, given the relatively low height of the tropopause (above which the temperature ceases decreasing with height, or even increases).
 
(I realise this is a quote from an external source.)

I don't think the temperature at cruise altitude in polar regions is all that cold, given the relatively low height of the tropopause (above which the temperature ceases decreasing with height, or even increases).

The only time fuel temperature got close to -47C for me was over Russia in winter. Outside Air Temp was about -70C.

Just moving through the air at the speeds we do increases the airframe temperature by 20-25 degrees.
 
Coincidently, there was another fuel dump over the UK with Lufthansa LH404 B747 to JFK having been diverted to Manchester:

Source

Source

The Lufthansa flight LH404, a Boeing 747-800, was flying from Frankfurt to New York but diverted to Manchester airport at around 7pm.

People from Barrow witnessed the plane flying low, with its wheels down and apparently dumping fuel over Morecambe Bay.

A Manchester Airport spokesperson said: An aircraft from Frankfurt to New York JFK made a divert into Manchester Airport and landed safely with approximately 360 people on board.
Content from External Source
 
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Just moving through the air at the speeds we do increases the airframe temperature by 20-25 degrees
so the plane warms the contrail area up 25 degrees? maybe a better question is... whats an "airframe temperature"?
 
TAT or total airframe temperature is the actual temperature of the the aircraft skin as measured by various sensors. We use it mainly to determine when to switch the anti-icing devices in the engines and on the wings.

SAT is static air temperature. On the ground the two are the same. Once we start moving at higher speeds there is a gap in them caused by air friction. Eventually at high Mach Numbers TAT gets to be around 25C warmer than SAT. This keeps the fuel warmer.

The indications are bottom left on The lower screen in this picture. ISA shows the deviation from the Standard Atmosphere temperature.

image.jpg
 
That bottom display also shows the fuel system. If you look closely you can see fuel temperature indications along the bottom of the tank indications. The coldest fuel is always in the outer tanks during flight. Something to do with airflow and the tanks are thinner at the wingtip.
 
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