Fuel tank

[Ihncheol Park]

MessageAlan,
My reason for the thin-walled tubing is not just for our pattern flying.
Several members of my local clubs gets their plane as high as possible and
start vertical dive with lots of rolls, snaps, spin and whatever they call.
I've seen a few dead sticks with hard straight clunk tubes.  I prefer my
engine to keep running unless there is not fuel left in my fuel tank.

Ihncheol Park

  -----Original Message-----
  From: discussion-request at nsrca.org [mailto:discussion-request at nsrca.org]On
Behalf Of Alan Simmonds
  Sent: Tuesday, April 29, 2003 2:12 AM
  To: discussion at nsrca.org
  Subject: RE: Fuel tank


  Good Thread!  But which is right?

  Stop the clunk falling to the front of the tank and potentially crimping
the fuel line
  or
  Use a thin walled line that will always fall to the front of the tank.

  Does it make any difference with the engine ticking over?

  I use the thin walled tube myself but would be interested to know which
camp is the majority.

  Alan Simmonds
  -----Original Message-----
  From: discussion-request at nsrca.org [mailto:discussion-request at nsrca.org]
On Behalf Of Bob Kane
  Sent: 29 April 2003 04:56
  To: discussion at nsrca.org
  Subject: Re: Fuel tank


  Does it quit on the way up, or on the way down?  What kind of engine are
you using?

  There are at least two possible problems. Your idle setup could be off,
causing the changing fuel flow during this manuever to kill the engine. The
engine should run for a long time at idle with the fuel remaining in the
line even when the clunk is "high and dry" so to speak, certainly long
enough to finish the downline and level off, restoring fuel flow. The other
problem could be a pinched fuel line inside the tank. I had similar problem,
flameouts after a stall turn. I discovered the clunk would pull the feeder
line into the fuel on a downline but the clunk would stay in the front of
the tank, folding the feeder line and starving the engine of fuel. I now
assemble my tanks with an aluminum tube in the pickup line so the clunk
can't fold back on itself.

  I would make sure the idle setup on your engine is reliable. It should
idle for a very long time with no change in rpm.  Run the engine on the
ground at full throttle, then pull back to idle. If it runs at steady rpm,
all is fine. If it slowly slows down and dies, it is rich. If is speeds up
then dies, it is lean.

  Jerry Wilson <jerrywil at swbell.net> wrote:
    I have just found a problem that I'm sure many people on the list have
solved before.  Often while doing a stall turn, my engine would stop and a
dead stick landing would follow.  After discussing this with a friend at the
field it was suggested that it could be a fuel tank problem.  So I took the
tank out tonight to have a look.  With fuel inside I could see that when the
tank was inverted as in a stall turn manouver as you go over the top,  the
clunk would often rest against the side of the tank.  So when the nose is
pointed down, the clunk could hang at the aft end of the tank but the fuel
is at the nose.

    I've changed the length of the tubing (shorter and longer) and even
added a wheel collar to the line at the clunk, but so far I can't tell much
difference.

    Any suggestions would be appreciated,

    thanks,
    Jerry



  Bob Kane
  getterflash at yahoo.com


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