Fuel tank leak in Sportstar Plus

[docjell]

Discovered a pool of avgas under the starboard wingroot of my pristine 130hr Sportstar Plus. Stripped back the covers to reveal a significant leak in the front inboard corner of the tank. (Estimated about 10 litres in 24 hrs).

 

Duly drained the tank and was able to just see an area in the front inboard corner an area that looked as though the sealant had separated from the aluminium revealing a small defect.

 

Will borrow an industrial endoscope to look clearly - the tank is integral so not removable.

 

There is, to my mind, no other possible explanation for this defect in a young, well maintained aircraft, other than a manufacturing error which is upsetting since I've no doubt such suggestion will be strongly resisted.. Have any other owners of this otherwise awesome aircraft had a similar problem? Is it a one off? How may I reasonably resolve it? I'm awaiting a call from the importer, but any other input would be gratefully received! Attempts to email Evektor have in the past been severally and remarkably unsucessful - perhaps they only want me to talk through Peter Harlow or perhaps they want me to speak Czech which I can't!

 

I need to know if this is common, what can be done to resolve the issue, and in particular what sealants can I or can I not use that would be compatible with the manufacturers selant?

 

 

[Mick]

Be very careful how you go about solving this problem. I would suspect that your Sportstar is registered LSA. As such you cannot carry out any repair or modification without the manufacturers approval. Go against this rule and your aircraft is both unregistered and uninsured.

 

Peter is usually very helpful and receives great support from Evektor who are only doing the right thing by their agent ( Peter ) by not wanting to communicate directly with you. I would be very confident that Peter and Evektor will do the right thing and have your problem sorted promptly. On this I speak with experience as a former Sportstar owner.

 

Hope you get it sorted soon.

 

 

[docjell]

Thanks for the info Mick - much appreciated. I was unaware of the LSA embargo on repairs etc and its onboard! I'll also contact Peter again as my last email probably gave the impression I was about to take panels off the wing (which I was)

 

Hope Bundy is going well for you both - we both miss BAC a lot but from what I hear its not as 'cosy' as it once was (ahh~! but what is)

 

Thanks again

 

Chris

 

 

[gwPhoto]

I too have recently developed a slow fuel leak in right wing. I have not started any physical investigation yet, was wondering if anyone else experienced same. An interesting note, 12 months ago switched from Avgas to Mogas, no ethanol. Any comments or suggestions appreciated.

 

 

[AVOCET]

I

 

I too have recently developed a slow fuel leak in right wing. I have not started any physical investigation yet, was wondering if anyone else experienced same. An interesting note, 12 months ago switched from Avgas to Mogas, no ethanol. Any comments or suggestions appreciated.

Is it a definate leak ( wet aera or drops)

Or is it a strong fume smell ,?

 

Most flexible fuel line seep the aromatics in the premium 95/98

 

Its worse in hot weather , as weve just had temp drop of 36 down to 20 today .

 

I was beginning to worry as i thourght i had a fuel leek as well .

 

Im currently looking at options to replace fuel lines , i think the race car scene uses teflon fuel lines .

 

The ethanol proof lines "plastisize "

 

when exposed to toluene .

 

Cheers Mike