Mackfly wrote:

From: "James M. Knox"

Fueling of the big aircraft is done through sealed hoses - releasing a
lot less fumes than you get when filling up your family car.

Not true---think about it----while that fuel is going into the tank, something
has to come out of the tank. Look into tank vent valves used on large single
point refueled aircraft. I remember a vent valve failing on a B-58 and saw the
side of the fuselage that was blown out by the pressure build up. Mac

Also, prior to June 1970 (when I retired from the U.S.
Air Force) there was a picture on the cover of one of
the AF Magazines showing a C-130 (Herc) at Edwards
AFB, California with one wing in the usual horizontal
position, but the other "broke" between the two
engines. That wing tip was resting on the ground.
Cause? Some work had been done on the fuel vent
system and the vents on the side of the "broken" wing
were left plugged or shut for one reason or other.
Then they single point refueled the plane. When
sufficient pressure built up, the wing failed.


Lou.