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Reserve Fuel

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Alan Carter

Joined: 02 Jul 2012
Posts: 378
Location: Kent, England.

Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 4:23 pm Post subject: Reserve Fuel

Hi All.

I am just putting this in as it may be of use to low hour flyer's or owners that purchased there aircraft like me.

I purchased my Europa about 3 months ago and have clocked up just over 35 hours in her. 

The previous owner flew her in to Headcorn and basically said nothing , leaving the plane with a 600 rpm Mag drop which i had to fix.

Eventually I went flying loading extra fuel as i did not know the aeroplane, and thinking the fuel gauge might be over read a little thinking maybe 5 to 8 litres.



A few weeks later i decided to drain the tanks and check the gauge, lucky i did for a couple of reasons as follows.

I drained both Main and Reserve as i did not know which tank saddle was the reserve, more by chance i drained the Main tanks Saddle first,

it was a long process as i used the fuel drain valves under the aircrafts belly.

Then i drained the Reserve the same way ,Here i made a discovery, the 8 litres of drained fuel was Stale, contained particles and some emulsified water droplets.

I concluded from my detective work (1) That the previous owner never used the Reserve Side of the Tank, and (2) That even though the Fuel Filler Cap Hose goes down the same side as the Reserve saddle the fuel in the reserve does not mix so leaving old stale dirty fuel in the saddle.

I have flow 4 Europa's and nothing about Checking Reserve was printed one there Check Lists, so i suspect they are quit a few who never use the Reserve,??

So I have added a line to my Check List, Taxing In on Reserve, and then change back to Main, I am not likely to use Reserve, and the least i fiddle with before Take Off suits me.

At least i know i have fresh clean fuel there should i need it, And Taxing In after flying gets me use to putting my hand down the tunnel and correctly moving the fuel cock to the correct selections.



I refilled the tank using a 5 litre can’s checking the gauge and making a Fuel Ref Chart, to my surprise 58 Lts on the gauge equaled 35 Ltr actually in the tank.

It was way out, i must have been very close empty at times, Now i am using my Chart/Gauge tables which is quit accurate. I will get round to re calibrating the gauge now i have instruction Manual. So (3) Know what's actually in the Tank. 

I have no fuel filters just a Gasolator, so in cleaning this , i run some main fuel then and some reserve fuel, having selected Reserve no fuel came through, another discovery, i have to put my hand down the tunnel to get at the fuel cock, and selected  the fuel cock pointer, to the ON RESERVE position , but was actually selected to the FUEL OFF position, ie the fuel cock handle position for Reserve was not as i would have thought to be,it looked and appeared to me to be set correctly. 

(4) Check and Confirm the position and look of the lever for, Fuel Off and the position and look of the lever for Fuel Reserve , (I am referring to the old early stile fuel cocks)( not the little Red new type cocks)

I know some have all the latest gismo's , but others with just the bare bones may find this helpful.

So in a nutshell, Fuel/Gauge Tables,Handle the Fuel Cock,Burn some Reserve.   

Alan

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ward.t(at)xtra.co.nz
Guest

Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 4:54 pm Post subject: Reserve Fuel

Alan,

Interesting finds. For the Monowheel Classic, the best!

I normally run my reserve in the cruise to avoid what you have said and keep the fuel flow exercised from both sides. Back to Main for LDG  and TO.

I placed an extension (workshop drill extension adaptor) from the fuel cock to bring it to be easily accessible to the pilot as the fuel selector on the centre armrest.

Was the Fuel Gauged table measurements done with the aircraft in the flying attitude?

Cheers,



Tim

Tim Ward

12 Waiwetu Street

Fendalton,

Christchurch,  8052

New Zealand.



ward.t(at)xtra.co.nz



Ph 64 3 3515166

Mob 0210640221

On 25/10/2012, at 9:23 AM, "Alan Carter" <alancarteresq(at)onetel.net> wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		   

 

 Hi All.

 I am just putting this in as it may be of use to low hour flyer's or owners that purchased there aircraft like me.

 I purchased my Europa about 3 months ago and have clocked up just over 35 hours in her. 

 The previous owner flew her in to Headcorn and basically said nothing , leaving the plane with a 600 rpm Mag drop which i had to fix.

 Eventually I went flying loading extra fuel as i did not know the aeroplane, and thinking the fuel gauge might be over read a little thinking maybe 5 to 8 litres.

 

 A few weeks later i decided to drain the tanks and check the gauge, lucky i did for a couple of reasons as follows.

 I drained both Main and Reserve as i did not know which tank saddle was the reserve, more by chance i drained the Main tanks Saddle first,

 it was a long process as i used the fuel drain valves under the aircrafts belly.

 Then i drained the Reserve the same way ,Here i made a discovery, the 8 litres of drained fuel was Stale, contained particles and some emulsified water droplets.

 I concluded from my detective work (1) That the previous owner never used the Reserve Side of the Tank, and (2) That even though the Fuel Filler Cap Hose goes down the same side as the Reserve saddle the fuel in the reserve does not mix so leaving old stale dirty fuel in the saddle.

 I have flow 4 Europa's and nothing about Checking Reserve was printed one there Check Lists, so i suspect they are quit a few who never use the Reserve,??

 So I have added a line to my Check List, Taxing In on Reserve, and then change back to Main, I am not likely to use Reserve, and the least i fiddle with before Take Off suits me.

 At least i know i have fresh clean fuel there should i need it, And Taxing In after flying gets me use to putting my hand down the tunnel and correctly moving the fuel cock to the correct selections.

 

 I refilled the tank using a 5 litre can’s checking the gauge and making a Fuel Ref Chart, to my surprise 58 Lts on the gauge equaled 35 Ltr actually in the tank.

 It was way out, i must have been very close empty at times, Now i am using my Chart/Gauge tables which is quit accurate. I will get round to re calibrating the gauge now i have instruction Manual. So (3) Know what's actually in the Tank. 

 I have no fuel filters just a Gasolator, so in cleaning this , i run some main fuel then and some reserve fuel, having selected Reserve no fuel came through, another discovery, i have to put my hand down the tunnel to get at the fuel cock, and selected  the fuel cock pointer, to the ON RESERVE position , but was actually selected to the FUEL OFF position, ie the fuel cock handle position for Reserve was not as i would have thought to be,it looked and appeared to me to be set correctly. 

 (4) Check and Confirm the position and look of the lever for, Fuel Off and the position and look of the lever for Fuel Reserve , (I am referring to the old early stile fuel cocks)( not the little Red new type cocks)

 I know some have all the latest gismo's , but others with just the bare bones may find this helpful.

 So in a nutshell, Fuel/Gauge Tables,Handle the Fuel Cock,Burn some Reserve.   

 Alan

 

 

 

 

 Read this topic online here:

 

 http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=385950#385950

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Alan Carter

Joined: 02 Jul 2012
Posts: 378
Location: Kent, England.

Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 11:55 pm Post subject: Re: Reserve Fuel

Hi Tim.

NZ a beautiful county i had a holiday there.

I have done my time on Chipmunks, My Europa is a Mono to Tri Conversion

so maybe better! well a lot easier. 

The Fuel/Tables were done with the aircraft just in its level position on level ground, a couple of litres either way i am not bothering about as if i was down to 15 litres i would be quit worried.

Glad you use the reserve fuel, just my choice taxing in on reserve,

I like your idea of the extended lever, is it guarded or recessed, can you give some more on how to do it.   

Alan

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roddyeuropa(at)aol.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 12:55 am Post subject: Reserve Fuel

Hi Alan

   I'd add a couple of things - you have the fuel drain mod installed which is good. But be aware that you need to drain more fuel than a normal fuel drain to clear the fuel in the lines between the drain and the tank. I drain about 'half jam jar' each side.

   Also, the fuel return from the engine should be feeding into the reserves side so it should refresh the fuel. But if fueling the plane doesn't get to the bottom of the tank to stir things up, the return flow certainly won't. But it worth checking that the fuel return is happening.

   Regards

   Roddy Kesterton

   G-IKRK

 

 

 

   --

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g-iani(at)ntlworld.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 2:31 am Post subject: Reserve Fuel

Alan



Adding and extension, as Tim has done, is a great improvement.

Unfortunately owners experience is that the Europa supplied valve becomes

stiff to turn after about 150 hours.  I replaced mine at 200 hours and

replaced the replacement with an Andair at 275 hours.



Replacement with an Andair is a Standard Mod and details are available on

the Club and LAA web sites.

http://www.theeuropaclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/SM13342-1Andair.pdf



The example check list the club publishes on our site

http://www.theeuropaclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Sample-checklist.pdf



does stipulate starting on Reserve for the reasons you have outlined.

Possibly we should give greater emphasis to this as some pilots may be using

check lists which have dropped this requirement.

Ian Rickard G-IANI XS Trigear, 300hours

Europa Club Mods Specialist

e-mail g-iani(at)ntlworld.com

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brian.davies(at)clara.co.
Guest

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 2:45 am Post subject: Reserve Fuel

Hi Alan,



I am probably "telling grandmother how to suck eggs" But I discovered the hard way that the plastic 5 litre containers can hold far more than 5 litres. Did you calibrate your 5 litre can before you used it to calibrate your system?  The Europa fuel tank does change shape during its life so recalibration is needed but I would not expect the extent of error that you described. I would expect to see a tank capacity of between 58 and 61 litres, not including the reserve section.



As I am sure you have spotted, the fuel sender (assuming it is the standard Europa fit) only measures the fuel contents from one side of the saddle so if you are measuring from a complete empty situation, the first 8-9 litres goes into the reserve and does not show on the gauge. Also, the standard fuel sender only has 8 reed switches on it, so the fuel contents "jumps" in steps of about 7 litres.



The other thing to be aware of is that if you are draining fuel via the water drains (assuming again that you have the standard water drains mod fitted) it is very hard to completely empty the tank if the aircraft is a Trigear.  You are probably better off emptying the tank by use of the electric pump, having disconnected the fuel hose at the mechanical fuel pump.  That way you get down to a genuine minimum useable fuel level at flying attitude.  This would be your zero point for fuel gauge calibration.



The process that I follow, from a completely empty tank, is to pour in about 10 litrs of fuel to ensure the reserve side is full.  Then drain the main tank again using the electric pump to remove fuel that has slopped over from the reserve into the main area.  Then start the calibration process.



Again, my apologies if I am stating the obvious.



Regards



Brian

--

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Alan Carter

Joined: 02 Jul 2012
Posts: 378
Location: Kent, England.

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 12:30 pm Post subject: Re: Reserve Fuel

Hello Brian and All

I have not flown for 14 years and a small plane for 30 years, 

My machine for the past 14 years was my Honda Blackbird at 200mph a bit faster than the Europa, but as the sticker on the wind shield  says,

 "Id rather be flying"

So thank you NPPL  i have my L plates on again, keep the posts coming in, its surprising how much one forgets with the passage of time.

Regards.

Alan

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Duncan McFadyean

Joined: 18 Jan 2011
Posts: 222

Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2012 2:02 am Post subject: Reserve Fuel

<<..But it worth checking that the fuel  return is happening.>>

 Yes,  that should be on the annual checklist. Alternately, if you have a fuel pressure  sensor fitted the action of the return can be checked at every shut down, by  watching fuel pressure return quickly back to zero. Without the return, the  pressure would be locked-in to the fuel lines (unless the fuel pump valve and/or  float valves leak!).

  

 Duncan  McF.

 [quote]   

   --

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