After having the aircraft down for awhile with the fuel tank drained to avoid
having
stale gas present I noted a leak upon gassing it up. I was going to bring
it over to Phoenix Composites to have the prop rebalanced. It looked like
it was coming from the lower feed boss where the big piece of short hose is
clamped
on. I was in a hurry and going on vacation in 2 days for a few weeks.
I didn't want to deal with it then so re-drained the tank to re-address it
later.
Upon re-gassing it up upon return the gas started flowing out at a rate of about
a third as fast as I was pouring it in! Upon inspection it was determined that
it was coming from a crack in the tank near the bottom of the saddle section
reserve side where a fiberglass layup support is attached. It appears that
the strapping has acted as a stress raiser along with expansion and
contraction
in the AZ heat.
In any case it looks like it may have to be sawzall time for the top of the
cockpit
module for repair. Has anyone gone through a repair to a fuel tank an a
fully built aircraft? What was the routine? I am not looking forward to this
and am possibly considering just parting the aircraft out. I could have been
out flying and pumped all the fuel out of the reserve return side in a matter
of about 10 minutes if I didn't light it off.
Feed back appreciated
Steve Hagar
A143
Mesa AZ
914
Airmaster
Steve Hagar
hagargs@earthlink.net
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