----- Original Message -----
From: "David Joyce" <davidjoyce@doctors.org.uk>
Subject: Re: Europa-List: Fuel system info please
| Ferg, I have an Andair gascolator with drain plug above an access flap
under
| the baggage bay. For a mono this is as low as you can get. and it is
plumbed
| between the selector valve and the pumps.
| My purpose in mailing is to say that I have never in +/- 200 hrs
seen
| the least suspicion of water, and you might think that the UK is the ideal
| water producing climate. Whether this is due to plastic fuel tanks not
| encouraging condensation or due to the alcohol in Mogas (which I use most
of
| the time) dissolving it I don't know, but it does suggest that you might
be
| wasting money and weight putting in multiple drain points. Regards,
David
| 914 mono XS
David,
Thank you for having taken the time to recommend the above. Yes, I
may have taken inappropriate steps to avoid moisture - based mainly on the
sensitivity which might accrue from the use of diesel fuel and the engine
pumps (just another glitch from changing fuels). I am debating relocating
the gascolator to the lower engine compartment rather than presently planned
back belly in order to capture that last 5 foot line to the engine.
And it is true that perhaps Brit fuel is more susceptible due to
higher humidity, but Canuck fuel can sit longer in the lager because of
greater distances and much lower demand in the north and I will carry a
careful refuel filter (per GraSing's email) to avoid the worst. Nevertheless
I think my machine may tend toward longer stopovers and more remote
refueling sites than would a UK-based aircraft, and am sensitive to three
hours over unbroken bush at a time.....
As well, it's true that the gascolator holds sway over much less
quantity of fuel than do the drains. I am hoping the drains (lower than most
sites in a tailwheel design) will have had water delivered by the weight of
fuel above so am planning on a rather large container to assess their
content.
Thanks for the 'heads-up'. I am very jealous of your success and am
now just applying the W26 & 27 wingpin sockets. My 'factory' allows for
about 7-8 inches of space once the wings are attached (by sliding the
starboard wing through the patio doors) - so sliding wings in and out is not
undertaken lightly.
The previous delays have rotated this juncture in the build from asummer job
into a winter one. Opening the doors at twenty below means no heat for about
three hours to get to epoxy temps.
regards,
Ferg
|