In the color-coordinated world of an aircraft carrier flight deck, those wearing the purple shirts are those guys and gals that take care of the fuel-related aspects of the carrier. Called the Grapes, these folks make sure the aircraft get the fuel they need or in some cases get de-fueled so an aircraft can go down below into the hangar bay. Every once in a while a jet might end up at an USAF base before coming back to the ship and may have a belly full of the fuel the AF uses - JP-4, vice the fuel the Navy uses, JP-5. JP-4 has a lower flash-point (the temperature where it can vaporize to form an ignitable mixture in air) than JP-5, which is why the Navy does not use JP-4 on the ship (You want to avoid the possibility of your ship catching fire at all cost. The alternative? How long can you tread water?) Any aircraft that lands with JP-4 on board needs to be de-fueled to get that evil USAF gas out. The Air Department's fuels folks, the V-4 Division, takes care of this. Here's a good article from Navy.mil on what the USS Abraham Lincoln's V-4 Division does. Here, two Grapes are discussing some aspect of fueling one of the USS Harry S Truman Hornets. I was up on the starboard side of the ship, a tad forward, looking back toward the island. The aircraft are parked "TOW", or "tail over water" to help maximize the parking/positioning of aircraft on the relatively small four and a half acres of flight deck. On board USS Harry S Truman, summer, JTFEX, 2009
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Posted
Jan 17 2011, 01:44 AM
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BLACKFIVE