Long range tanks fuel management

[JerzyGeorge]

Good day,

 

I would appreciate any comments on fuel management while flying Savannah with long range tanks.

 

I can see fuel level in inner tanks , but how can I guess level in outer tanks??

 

Also having return fuel line to inner tank is a risk of overfilling this tank while full

 

Regards

 

George

 

 

[facthunter]

Any time you have no gauges or a faulty one you do have to guess what fuel is there. The only time you know the quantity accurately is when you have just filled it to the top and when it runs out, or added a known quantity to an empty tank.. It's desired to keep differences across ship to a minimum also. The design may specify a max permitted imbalance. Just selecting both doesn't guarantee equal rate of usage.

 

Your last line is absolutely correct. You may vent fuel overboard if you don't use some fuel from it from the beginning, or have it slightly below full. I don't like using one tank only for take off or approach as a principle if more than one is fitted. The longer you can prove a tank supply before taking off the better. Incorrect tank selection has been responsible for many engine failures at take off. Nev

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

I fitted sight gauges to all 4 of my tanks..its excellent but there are better ones now..a bit expensive but very good and can take care of when the fuel is moving in the tank. I would get 2 of them for your outer tanks and one display and just switch the outputs of the sensors to display. Its the Belite one. Seems very good He also has a new capacitive wire probe system as well

 

RADIANT Instruments - Page 1 - Belite Aircraft

 

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

Here is another one with cheaper instruments from Belite

 

Fuel Gauges - Belite Aircraft

 

 

[Neil_S]

Good day,I would appreciate any comments on fuel management while flying Savannah with long range tanks.

 

I can see fuel level in inner tanks , but how can I guess level in outer tanks??

 

Also having return fuel line to inner tank is a risk of overfilling this tank while full

 

Regards

 

George

Hi George,

 

I always dip my tanks before flying so I have a good idea of total fuel. Then I fly on the inner tanks first, and if/when they reach about half on the wing root gauge I switch on both outer tanks. The level takes a little while to adjust, but then I just double the amount shown on the gauge.

 

At the end of the day I find 140 litres to be plenty for most of my flying, and with just me on board most of the time I find I get a tad under 15 litres an hour cruising at 5000rpm, although I use the book figure of 18.5 for planning.

 

If I haven't used the outer tanks for a while then I will switch them on anyway so the fuel gets used and doesn't get stale!

 

HTH

 

Cheers, Neil

 

 

[davidf]

On the VG it had long range tanks, 4 taps. I would dip tanks then workout my fuel burn time. Take off on inboard tanks, if you have full fuel capacity,run the inside tanks down a bit to allow for return fuel in right hand tank, then feed off a left or right out board tank till the reserve red light came on,then switch over. I always landed with both inside tanks on. Do your fuel calcs and you will know when the reserve light is due to come on. Hope this helps you.

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

This is when I built mine 5 years ago and shows how I fitted the sight gauges to all the tanks. Originally I had the bens in alu but changed to hose as it made life a lot easier. 5 years later it still works perfect

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

This is my 4 way fuel selector for each tank. You can see where it is mounted in the picture with Cosmick sitting in the aircraft when I was upgrading the original fuel lines to the teflon sleeved inner fuel hose...basically EFI fuel hose to stop the fuel stink the original hose has with ozmosis. Its easy to get to and to use and I never get any vapour lock also my fuel return to the tank come now into the right hand side of the manifold

 

 

 

 

[mek]

ALWAYS ALLOW FOR FUEL FLOWING TO THE FRONT OF THE TANKS ON LONG DESCENTS WITH THE REAR PICKUP POINTS ON THE SAVANNAH.

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

Yes that is a trap on long descents. I always have much more fuel than I need and being able to switch all 4 tanks individually fuel management is much better and easier. I havent been caught but I know a lot who have

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

Good to see you doing some posting Brian...need to change your location on your avatar

 

 

[IBob]

This is my 4 way fuel selector for each tank. You can see where it is mounted in the picture with Cosmick sitting in the aircraft when I was upgrading the original fuel lines to the teflon sleeved inner fuel hose...basically EFI fuel hose to stop the fuel stink the original hose has with ozmosis. Its easy to get to and to use and I never get any vapour lock also my fuel return to the tank come now into the right hand side of the manifold

[ATTACH=full]48414[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]48415[/ATTACH]

Hi Mark, is there a particular reason you went away from the standard fuel return arrangement?

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

Yes there was. When you deliver 3ltr an hr into the inner right tank from the engine you MUST use that tank when you takeoff with full tanks. If you dont then you will push fuel out of the tank. I often do not use that tank so what happens is the excess fuel goes into the sump because it comes into my fuel manifold so I never get fuel overflow in the right inner tank like it has done before. But I can do that purely because of the way I have done that. I also have a tap in that line from the engine so I can turn off that flow back to the tank if I want to

 

 

[IBob]

Yes there was. When you deliver 3ltr an hr into the inner right tank from the engine you MUST use that tank when you takeoff with full tanks. If you dont then you will push fuel out of the tank. I often do not use that tank so what happens is the excess fuel goes into the sump because it comes into my fuel manifold so I never get fuel overflow in the right inner tank like it has done before. But I can do that purely because of the way I have done that. I also have a tap in that line from the engine so I can turn off that flow back to the tank if I want to

Okay, so your return now goes back to the manifold, with a tap between engine and manifold?

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

yes that is correct. I have my tap inline just above my manifold so I can turn it on and off easily while flying

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

I dont think I have a pic...but will look

 

 

[IBob]

yes that is correct. I have my tap inline just above my manifold so I can turn it on and off easily while flying

If you turn it off, what happens to excess fuel?

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

nothing..its sits in the fuel pump line...its only to try not to have any vapour locks in the fuel line I am told. I turn mine off to get a accurate fuel flow measurement. Otherwise my fuel being used is not correct at cruise with the tap on then I am using 17 odd ltr per hr but off it shows 15. I really cant get a vapour lock the way mine is plumbed anyway

 

 

[IBob]

nothing..its sits in the fuel pump line...its only to try not to have any vapour locks in the fuel line I am told. I turn mine off to get a accurate fuel flow measurement. Otherwise my fuel being used is not correct at cruise with the tap on then I am using 17 odd ltr per hr but off it shows 15. I really cant get a vapour lock the way mine is plumbed anyway

Thanks...got it.

 

 

[IBob]

I'm a (long) way off hooking up a fuel system, but I have decided to run my fuel out to a manifold, with individual taps, as you have. (In fact the same manifold as you have used turned up at our local car paint shop).

 

Also to position the manifold where I can see it, which will probably be where you have yours.

 

It makes sense to me to have control over the individual tanks, and the taps clearly visible from the driving seat.

 

 

[JerzyGeorge]

Thank you guys for a lot of quality information

 

George

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

I'm a (long) way off hooking up a fuel system, but I have decided to run my fuel out to a manifold, with individual taps, as you have. (In fact the same manifold as you have used turned up at our local car paint shop).Also to position the manifold where I can see it, which will probably be where you have yours.

It makes sense to me to have control over the individual tanks, and the taps clearly visible from the driving seat.

I got mine from Enzed hose place and made it up with the fittings. Mounting the bar is a bit of a mission but it works great. AND you can then feed your backflow from the engine into the end of the manifold. Just take out the bung and fit a hose end on it. When I get to the plane I will take a picture. The whole system works spot on. Mabel will have the same. It has the standard crap system of 2 tanks into one switch and of course one of those switches is behind your head which is super difficult to reach. Do not use the standard fuel hose either..use EFI hose that has the teflon inner in it. It stops osmosis that leaves a fuel smell in the plane

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

Happened to be down at the hangars last night so raced in and grabbed a pic...sorry about the crap clarity but it was pitch black. You can see my fuel return from the engine comes in through the small tap and into the end of the manifold its the right hand side hose...you just cant see the brass right angle fitting where it goes into the manifold

 

 

 

[IBob]

Happened to be down at the hangars last night so raced in and grabbed a pic...sorry about the crap clarity but it was pitch black. You can see my fuel return from the engine comes in through the small tap and into the end of the manifold its the right hand side hose...you just cant see the brass right angle fitting where it goes into the manifold[ATTACH=full]48481[/ATTACH]

Thank you, Mark. They do say a picture's worth a thousand words, and it certainly works well here...