Patent ID: 7568660

Claim:
A method on an aircraft for providing fuel to at least one of an engine and an aerial refueling manifold during flight, the method comprising: at least partially filling a first tank assembly with fuel in a fuselage of the aircraft by flowing fuel through a dual purpose inlet/outlet duct coupled to the first “tank assembly and positioned at least partially withen the first tank assembly;” at least partially filling a second tank assembly with fuel in the fuselage of the aircraft by flowing fuel through the dual purpose inlet/outlet duct; drawing fuel from the first tank assembly by operating a fuel transfer pump positioned in the first tank assembly; while drawing fuel from the first tank assembly, drawing fuel through an inlet positioned in the second tank assembly by operating the fuel transfer pump positioned in the first tank assembly; passing the fuel drawn from the first and second tank assemblies through the fuel transfer pump: and after passing the fuel drawn from the first and second tank assemblies through the fuel transfer pump, flowing the fuel out of the first and second tank assemblies to at least one of the engine and the aerial refueling manifold through the dual purpose inlet/outlet duct, wherein the dual purpose inlet/outlet duct is configured to transfer fuel from, and provide fuel to, the first and second tank assemblies.