Path: utzoo!dciem!client2!bgm
From: bgm@client2.dciem.dnd.ca (Bruce Matthews)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: shuttle landing sites
Message-ID: <1185@client2.dciem.dnd.ca>
Date: 8 Nov 88 12:18:04 GMT
Article-I.D.: client2.1185
Reply-To: bgm@client2.dciem.dnd.ca (Bruce Matthews)
Organization: D.C.I.E.M., Toronto, Canada
Lines: 20

In article <3330011@hpindda.HP.COM> mears@hpindda.HP.COM (David B. Mears) writes:
>> I can't quote weights of either craft, but I know that if a 747 going
>> out of LAX has to abort the flight, it has to dump most of it's fuel
>> into the Pacific before returning to land.  Now I don't know if the
>> weak part is the landing gear or the runway, but a loaded 747 is ob-
>> viously VERY heavy.
 
>I would hazard a guess that dumping the fuel has nothing to do with the
>weight of the aircraft, but is done for fire safety reasons.  I think
>this is pretty standard in commercial aviation (though I could be
>mistaken).

Not correct.  The maximum landing weight of most wide body airliners is a
good deal lower than the maximum take-off weight.  The fuel dump is
required to bring the aircraft weight down to the max landing weight.  The
limiting factor is the landing gear.  Landing a 747 at close to max
take-off weight would run a serious risk of landing gear collapse.  The
resulting fire would then be another problem.

BGM