| Author | Message | ||
     Sven-Ake Eriksson (Sven) |
I have purchased a four way fuel selector valve from andair (part no: FSx6). I will then use one shut off valve downstream of this one. As Bill pointed out andair parts have excellent quality. I have the four tank configuration in my wings and after a lot of thinking decided this to be the best solution for me. Benefits will be: 1. there will be no risk to shut off fuel completely when operating fuel selector as it has no shut of position. Sven | ||
| Brian McKinney (Bmckinney) |
Another question for Express 2000 builders (or anyone else with only two tanks). Does the new Express have any type of slosh gates (or flappers) installed in wings to prevent fuel from running out to the ends? Jerry S. has information on his site on how he made some for his Express, but I was just wondering if this was a normal part on the new kits. Any pictures would be appreciated... By the way, I have had several people email me concerning link problems on my website. I need to fix it up, so I'm sorry if you couldn't see things while you were there. The problem only seems to occur on non-Microsoft browsers. Thanks, Brian | ||
| Tom R. Hutchison (Tomhutch) |
Brian, take a look at the pictures Sven Eriksson posted of the inside of his fuel tanks. http://www.express-builder.com/cgi-bin/forum/show.cgi?1/53 You will see a small opening on the rib at the top and bottom. This constitutes the "slosh baffling" that is still used on the new Expresses. Recently a Lancair IV crashed from fuel starvation because a swinging slosh door became blocked from residue dripping on it from the wing closing process. Not sure I would want the worry of something else to go wrong in the fuel system. | ||
| Brian McKinney (Bmckinney) |
Tom, Thanks for the information. The picture in Sven's post is one of the vent holes between the rib & the UWS. I'm not sure how these prevent sloshing or fuel from flowing outboard? The Lancair that crashed (piloted by Tony Durizzi) didn't have problems with the slosh gate, but was actually with a vent hole that was plugged with resin/squish material. By the accounts I read, the hole was accidently plugged with squish material at closeout & prevented the fuel from flowing into the bay. The air in the cavity occupied all of the space. Someone on a Lancair forum commented that the vent holes are only about the size of a finger. The Express holes are much bigger, so I think someone would have to be really sloppy with the mill fiber to completely plug one of these up on our kits. Thanks again, Brian | ||
| henri walser (43henri) |
Hello Rick, I had the same problems with my fuelsystem some years ago. I have the original Wheelerwings and after ask Andy the owner of the Andair Comp. he start to produce a valve for the Express 4-tank wing. My installation are the same as Sven,a 4-way valve and a shut-off / on, Andair valve on the side. For the return fuel for the Conti-engine, I copy the Cessnasystem go back to the tank from witch you start. So if You have one wing still open you have the possibility to go ther, and this Inboard tank are the tank from wher You start your flight. best regards Henri | ||
| Rick Spriggle (Rspriggle) |
Alright, that makes it easier then. For some reason I was under the impression that you had to return the fuel to the current tank in use. I guess that was because I was looking at the new dual port Andair valves made for FI engines. Now that I think about it (and thinking is something I should do more of lately) it shouldn't/doesn't matter where the fuel returns, just so it has somewhere to go. Now all I have to do is figure out how to retrofit Skysports fuel probes into the closed wing. Rick | ||
| Gary Markwardt |
Rick: It is best if the fuel return goes to the same wing being used to supply fuel. The Express demonstrator with a TCM IO-550 returns only to one side -- the left as I recall. It makes fuel management a bit more difficult, e.g., with full tanks you MUST start on the left tank & burn enough fuel before switching to the right tank to assure room for the returned fuel. Also, you need to burn longer on the left tank than the right tank. I know Express was surprised by how much fuel is returned unburned to the left tank. Not an impossible situation to manage, but something else to think about. I have just two tanks and also use an Andair selector (FS20-20-D2-6M) to return the overflow to the same tank. Works great & I echo the comments above re Andair quality, etc. I've talked to Andair at the airshows & they are very knowledgable & helpful. You might want to check with them re your options. Good luck. | ||
| Paul Fagerstrom (Paul) |
Rick, N511EA returns to the left tank only and has the continental io550 engine. When burning on the right tank it pumps ABOUT (may fluctuate several gals depending on power) 10 gals/hr into the left tank. You therefore need to be sure you do not over fill the left tank and pump gas overboard. The bigger problem however is to know how much fuel you have used out of the right tank. I also feel it unsafe to run a tank dry in flight and therefore give myself a lot of reserve in the right tank and underestimate the additional fuel I have in the left tank. Thus this causes my practical unusable fuel to be much higher than the actual unusable fuel. Therefore the range or useful load is decreased. Since we have a fuel totalizer, if the tanks were returned to the tank it was drawing from, I could be very accurate about fuel burn and would go much closer to the actual unusable level. Some people feel the Express carries so much fuel or carries so much weight this is not a big deal but, if I had my choice I would return to the same tank and carry less fuel if I didn’t need it for the trip and get better performance. For this same reason I would convert from 4 tanks to 2 tanks. It makes fuel management simple and maximizes the plane's usefulness. If your tanks are closed it is a tough decision but I would think about it very seriously because it is easier now than after the wings are on the plane. Also for the older style wing that clamshells along the leading edge, many of the builders had leaks along the leading edge seam and many times would be a few bays up from where they thought and they had to go into the wing anyway to seal the leak. This would be a good time to think about making the changes. | ||
| GSjostrand |
Hello Gang? I have stayed out of this but now must tell you that the "only" answer is to have 2 tanks, draw from each tank as needed and return the excess fuel to the tank being drawn from. Paul made a good point as there are too many possible problems to do it any other way. I am very satisfied with my arangement. Any questions? Call me or email. Jerry | ||
| Rick Spriggle (Rspriggle) |
Thanks everyone for your comments. I agree that 2 tanks is the way to go just because 4 tanks are too hard to manage plus require double the hardware. I also agree that it is best to return the fuel to the tank being used, best method being the Andair dual port selector valves. The wings I will be using are stamped 1989, so I'm assuming these are the mentioned clamshell design on the leading edge. One wing is already closed (the left I think, they aren't at my house)and is set up for the dual tanks. Now all I have to do is decide if I want to just use the inner tanks and forget about the outer giving me what, about 40 gallons?, or try to access the divider in the closed wing to open it up. The wing being closed also makes it difficult to put fuel level senders in too. I'm open for any suggestions and I'll be bringing these wings to my house tomorrow, so I can look at them further. Another easy solution - how 'bout a good old O-360 with a carburetor? Thanks, Rick |