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Fuel Height Question - Dipstick/fuel tab
Anyone out there with a flying (or at least completed and fuel-filled) -10 that has related the fuel quantity to height inside the tank with the aircraft sitting level (i.e. a calibrated dipstick or something)? I'm about to finish up my fuel tanks and wanting to install a fuel tab. It would be nice to calibrate it so that it would show approximately 2/3 full (20 gal) like some production aircraft. I'd take a stab in the dark at this but thought I'd see if someone might know how far up from the outboard bottom tank skin 20 gallons is? Appreciate any help in advance! -Mike
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Maybe
I may have this data somewhere from when I was calibrating fuel tanks. I'll let you know if I find it.
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I used a paint stick, put in fuel at 5 gal increments -------(takes apx 10 gal to get to the filler for the first mark, due to dihedral)-------and marked the stick at each additional 5 gal level.
Make a second stick and put it somewhere you can find it after you loose the first one. I used a file to notch the stick at each level, still gives a reference mark if you happen to use a pen instead of a pencil to mark the stick. |
Thanks for the responses Bryan and Mike... I think I'm just gonna go ahead with my guesstimate of where the tab should be. I prototyped a tab that goes 3-5/8" down from the top of the tank, which is a little past the 1/3 point in height (9" tank height).
I suspect that filling to the tabs will be *at least* 20 gallons in this configuration, likely closer to 22 or 23. That should work fine, and if it doesn't, well... we'll figure something else out :-) Any last words before I put the baffles on, entombing our hard work and proseal goopiness forever?!? Thanks again guys! -Mike |
I used one of these:
http://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/uni...uge-26-in.html ![]() I then filled the tanks five gallons at a time and calibrated the stick. I have the measurements at the hangar, but it would be easy enough to translate the markings on the stick to inches. |
I made my own Fuel Hawk style dip indicator out of clear Lexan tubing. I strapped a steel machinist ruler to it and recorded the measurements at 2.5 gallon increments. I then used a fine point sharpie and made a mark on the tubing when I was done. Removed the ruler, chucked in my lathe and cut a fine V line at the marks. I then engraved the gallons at each mark. I made two of them and keep one in the plane at all times. I always dip during preflight. You don't want to guess on where you put the 20 gallon tab marker. There is a huge difference in the marking heights as the tank fills up due to the wings dihedral. I'll get the exact measurement for you tonight.
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I am using a new fuel measurement system made by CiesCorp: https://www.ciescorp.net/vans-rv-fuel-level.html
It uses senders at both ends of the tank (upper/lower) with a control wire between them. This allow complete fuel management for the entire fuel tank fill. The senders provide signal that integrates with with the G3x (0-5v). |
I built a tab into my tank and frankly I just guesstimated (https://myrv10factory.wordpress.com/...tank-building/). This tab wound up being 25 gallons and measured 3.5". Pictures on the link above.
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Wow thanks again guys for the additional responses! David C- really appreciate your offer! Please don't go out of your way too much for us, like making a special trip to the hangar or something, but certainly if you have plans to be around the plane tonight I'd sure be curious what the measurements are!
BTW- I'm not overly concerned at hitting 20 gallons "to the drop"... as Mark said, he guesstimated his and ended up with around 25 gals. That would be fine with me also, just to have a good reference point with less-than-full tanks to do a quick w&b if we're loading up to head somewhere, and make it easy for whoever is filling the tanks. Ideally, closer to 20 would be great but I'd hate for someone to really go out of their way to get me those numbers. Appreciate it as always! |
Here is a couple pictures of my homemade Fuel Hawk style dip stick. The black lines from left to right indicate 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, Full. The stick is calibrated in 2.5 gallon increments so you can see that the dihedral of the wing effects the spacing quite a bit. My 20 gallon mark is exactly 4.00 inches from the bottom of the tank. I calibrated mine from the inboard edge of my filler cap flange. No problem getting this for you Mike as I went to the hanger today to clean up the mess I had made. :o
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