12.
Air Force Petroleum Handling Equipment.
a. Air Force Petroleum Handling Equipment. The Air Force typically uses the largest volume of bulk
petroleum in a theater of operations. The majority of Air Force equipment is used for fueling and defueling
aircraft and most storage tanks at Air Force facilities are fixed, above-ground tanks. However, the Air Force does
have equipment that can be transported for contingency operations to receive, store and issue bulk petroleum.
b. Hydrant Dispensing Systems. Provide a quick and efficient means of delivering large volumes of fuel
to aircraft. Systems all have the same basic components: pump house with pumps and filter/separators; pipeline
connecting the tanks to the pump house and the pump house to the aircraft refueling area and control pits and
hydrant outlets. Hydrant hose carts or trucks connect the hydrant system to the aircraft.
(1) Panero System (Type I).
(a) First hydrant system developed for the Air Force in 1949.
(b) Each system generally has four to six 25,000- or 50,000-gallon storage tanks and one or more
10,000- or 25,000-gallon defuel tanks.
(c) The system can dispense fuel at 300 GPM for fighters and 600 GPM for bombers and other
heavy aircraft.
(d) Panero system does not have defuel pumps, so defueling operations must be conducted by
gravity flow with assistance from the aircraft's defuel pump.
(e) The control pit has a remote control cable to start, stop, and provide emergency shutdown of
fuel flow.
(f) The limiting factor of the Panero system is that it has a small number of hydrant outlets
because it uses only one lateral pipe connecting hydrants to the system.
(2) Pritchard System (Type II).
(a) Developed in 1955, this system was a marked improvement over the Panero System.
(b) System has six to eight 50,000-gallon tanks and three to four lateral connections.
(c) The system can refuel aircraft at 600 GPM and defuel at 200 GPM.
(d) The Pritchard System uses a horseshoe magnet attached to a lanyard for emergency shut-off
QM5200
18-14
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