dry bay (plural dry bays)
- (aviation) An enclosed compartment immediately adjacent to a fuel tank but not itself used for fuel.
2000 August 23, National Transportation Safety Board, “1.6.1.1 747-100 Wing Center Section and Center Wing Fuel Tank Description”, in Aircraft Accident Report: In-flight Breakup Over the Atlantic Ocean, Trans World Airlines Flight 800, Boeing 747-131, N93119, Near East Moriches, New York, July 17, 1996[1], archived from the original on 4 May 2022, page 16:The compartment between SWB3 and the front spar was originally equipped with a bladder cell for water and plumbing to inject that water into the engines to increase engine thrust on takeoff. When the original engines were replaced with higher thrust engines, water for water injection was not needed, and the compartment between SWB3 and the front spar was converted to a dry bay. The accident airplane's water system had been deactivated, and the bladder cell and plumbing had been removed. In some later models of the 747 and in the military (E-4B) version, this dry bay has been modified to carry fuel.
