This always has me wondering. Why don't our automobiles have gascolators and
more trouble with water in the fuel? I surely don't drain the tank of my
Saturn before every commute to work, and change the fuel filter every 30,000
miles. In 127,000 miles, I've never had so much as a burp to to a fuel
problem, and I regularly run the tank to empty before filling up. Why are
aircraft so susceptible to water problems?
Chris
A159
Miles McCallum <milesm@avnet.co.uk> wrote:
> 99% of water in fuel comes from repeated temperature cycling of the air
> space above the fuel level over night (together with refuelling to
> displace the dryer air) - assuming things like cap seals are in good
> order - and the only way to combat this is to keep the tanks topped. In
> the past, I've found this to be unsatisfactory as occasionally some
> *&
%$" nicked all my fuel (in a Luscombe, in this case) - after the
> 3rd time, I gave up...
>
> The real issue is that the drains are the primary line of defence
> against water and the gascolator is there as a backup and to remove
> solids.
>
> Miles
>
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