Fuel System

1. Refueling Probe, 2. Ground refueling Port (Right Side), 3. Forward Fuselage Tank, 4. Left External Drop Tank, 5. Left Box Beam Tank, 6. Left Wing Tank, 7. Vent Tank, 8. Fuel Dump Mast, 9. Aft Fuselage Tank, 10. Right Box Beam Tank, 11. Right Wing Tank, 12. Right External Drop Tank.

The main fuel storage in the F-14 consists of two feed systems, one for each engine. The right engine feed system consists of the right wing and right box cells and the front fuselage cells while the left engine feed system consists of the left wing and left box cells in addition to the aft fuselage cells. This fact needs to be kept in mind when reading the fuel gauges.

The total useable fuel quantity is roughly 20,000 pounds distributed as in the table below.

Fuel Quantity Indicators and Controls

The fuel quantity indicator on the pilot right knee panel displays internal and external fuel carried.

The uppermost indicator (1) displays currently set BINGO fuel level, this quantity is set by rotating the knob (5) to desired amount. This indicator and control activates the BINGO caution light when total fuel level is below set amount.

The TOTAL (2) indicator displays total carried fuel.

The L and R (3) normally shows fuel carried in left and right fuel feeds respectively. A rocker switch on the fuel management panel enables selection of the wing internal tanks (WING) or external fuel tanks (EXT) for display but is spring-loaded to return to showing the feed tanks (FEED) automatically. When displaying wing internal tanks or external fuel tanks, the left wing or left external tank is shown on the L counter and the right wing or right external tank on the R counter.

The FUS & FEED tapes (fuselage and feed) shows the AFT & L (aft fuselage and left feed) and FWD & R (forward fuselage and right feed) in thousands of pounds.

Additionally the RIO has a total fuel quantity display on the right instrument panel. This display counter can only show total fuel quantity. (See Fuel Quantity Totalizer.)

The fuel management panel on the pilot’s left vertical console contains the applicable controls for the fuel system.

The QTY SEL (1) rocker switch is detailed above under the description above about the L & R fuel displays.

The FEED switch allows the pilot to correct fuel imbalances caused by single engine operation or feed failures by selecting both engines to feed from either the FWD (forward and right tanks) or AFT (aft and left tanks) instead of from one feed system each as normal NORM. The switch guard locks the switch to the NORM position when down.

The WING/EXT TRANS switch controls fuel transfer from the wing and external tanks into the fuselage feed systems. The normal AUTO position enables this transfer as soon the landing gear is retracted. The ORIDE position enables this transfer regardless of landing gear position, enabling transfer when on the ground or during a malfunction in the electrical system inhibiting landing gear retraction detection. Additionally the OFF position disables this transfer but can be overridden automatically to AUTO when the INST test is performed on the MTS panel, the refuel probe is set to ALL EXTD or when dumping fuel.

The DUMP (5) switch enables fuel dump through the beaver tail fuel dump mast, it also enables all fuel transfer systems, enabling dump of fuel in wings and external tanks in addition to the fuselage. If there’s weight on the wheels or the speed brake is not fully retracted the fuel dump is inhibited.

🟡 CAUTION: Even though technically possible to engage the afterburners after a fuel dump is in progress, this is not allowed due to the possibility of igniting the dumped fuel.

In-Flight Refueling

The above panel also contains the control for the in-flight refueling system.

The REFUEL PROBE (6) switch controls the extension of the refueling probe as well as setting up the fuel system to receive fuel. The two extended positions (EXTD) are ALL, enabling refueling of all tanks, including wings and external tanks and FUS, allowing refuel of only the fuselage tanks. When selecting the ALL position the fuel feed from the wings and external tanks are disabled to allow refueling of these tanks. RET (Retract) retracts the refueling probe and resumes normal fuel system operation.

💡 Selecting EXTD ALL resets the WING/EXT TRANS switch to AUTO.