I was interested but not surprised to read about an early flight engine
failure in the last few days.
Except that I ended in a field on the second flight it mirrors my
experience exactly.
I put lots of fuel through before first flight ,cleaned the filters etc.
When after the engine failure I inspected the filters there was nothing
obviously visible to block both the filters.
When I posted the problem there were lots with a similar experience. It
seems to be only in the early hours of flight that the blockages happen.
I put a concertina filter in and have had no more problems.
My view , without proof , is that some form of fine film comes off the
interior of the tank in the first few flights.
The problem seems to be specific to the Europa style tank not just to
fibre glass aeroplanes.
No one has been killed yet . Is it possible to warn all builders now of
this possibility and ban the small Europa supplied filters before
someone is hurt.
Kevin Pownall kevpow@iinet.net.au
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