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Fuel Drained on my RV-4

E

eisnerrv4

Well Known Member
Yesterday I went flying and during my preflight check I went to drain fuel out of my left tank to find that nothing was coming out. I had 33 litres or 8.8 US gallons in it after my last flight. My tank doesn't leak and there was no signs of Avgas leakage on the grass below the wing. At least the person had the decency to replace the gas cap. The cost of my 33 litres or 8.8 US gallons at the current rate was $69.76.

I'm pretty sure everyone does this but goes to show you that never assume you have fuel in your tanks before you go flying.

Has this ever happened to anyone else and can you get locking caps for the RV-4.

Thanks and safe flying everyone.
 
Why bother with a locking cap for people stealing fuel? A 1/2" wrench and a can is faster, easier and you can keep your head down. I can see how a locking cap could keep someone from dumping water or other contaminates in the fuel though.
 
Locking caps

Brian, it sure is easy to drain the fuel by removing the drain fittings, but having said that, I added locking caps to my RV-6. I did it to prevent anyone from purposely contaminating my fuel, as well as for the lazy thief without a wrench.

The caps are Newton locking caps available from the Vans website, they Proseal into the stock openings. This also means it will restrict the size of the openings somewhat, which can prevent you filling when the nozzle is very large. I have not encountered a problem flying from Arlington to Oshkosh, so I wouldn't worry too much.

There do seem to be two versions of the Newton cap, the first one I got from Vans had the single O-ring around the top, they started to leak through the keyhole in flight at about the 3 year mark. I contacted Newton in England about a replacement O-ring, and they simply sent me three new caps with the new double O-ring, free of charge (I have one aux tank)!

When I contacted Vans to let them know about the leaking issue, they said they hadn't had any problems and were not going to address it. Hope this helps, Al.
 
Brian, all you can hope for

is that the lowlife jerk uses the fuel in his car. If it was 100 LL that it will ruin his catalytic converter and his vehicle won't pass pollution tests and it may make it run really loud. Listen for the sound and check who around the airport is selling a vehicle in a couple months real cheap? Good tip on always checking fuel, thanks and best regards, Bill of Georgia RV-8A Bluebird
 
what to do?

eisnerrv4 said:
Yesterday I went flying and during my preflight check I went to drain fuel out of my left tank to find that nothing was coming out. QUOTE]

Brian,
I'm more worried about the tampering that is NOT obvious.

and Bill, excellent point about the lead.

I know that signs really don't work, but it can't hurt to placard the cap with
" contains heavily leaded fuel that will make everything from lawnmowers to race cars run like cr@p. Don't bother.
Tampering with aircraft is also a federal offense punishable by imprisonment for up to 25 years, or life if someone is injured. Think about it."

other deterrents?
- we installed a 360 degree video cam on a pole so that most of our tie-downs are visible, so at least you'd have some idea what they messed with.

and isn't it neat that most of this stuff happens behind 10' chain link fence with barbed-wire on top, and security in little cars driving around the perimeter.
Click to expand...
 
This is one of the reason I do not fill or add more fuel to my tanks after the flight. The OTHER is static electricity, can mess up a fellows day!
 
Don Blackburn said:
This is one of the reason I do not fill or add more fuel to my tanks after the flight. The OTHER is static electricity, can mess up a fellows day!
Click to expand...

I have to comment but it totally OT.

Don, you joined the forum in 2005 and this was your first post?!?

You haven't been incapacitated due to a run in with some static electricity for 7 years have ya'?

Just teasing, welcome (back?) to the forum!
 
I once knew of a guy who used to regularly steal fuel from aircraft at night. Everybody knew he was doing it but nobody ever caught him.
 
Another possibility

In my old RV-4, when the fuel selector was in the OFF position, no fuel would flow to the engine but fuel could flow from one tank to the other...
 
Fuel Drained

Thanks Ed for your comments. I checked my other tank the right one and it had the same amount of fuel in it as previous. The total fuel when I left the aircraft after my last flight was 58 litres, 33 in the left tank and 25 in the right. The left was drained bone dry but the right still had 25 litres in it. I didn't know about the fuel moving over to the other tank even when the fuel valve is in the off position.

Sure gives me an indication of fuel drainage from my left tank.

Always enjoy learning things from other RV owners.

Thanks again!!!
 
Empty is better than the alternative

Some time ago I read an accident report where the pilot did all of the usual checks, the aircraft fired up, taxied and took off. When it was only a few hundred feet up, the engine cut out and the pilot performed a gear up landing. Fortunately the air strip was in an arid location so there was plenty of open space so the only damage was to the aircraft, all inside were o.k.

An investigation revealed that the tanks were full of water. The tanks had been drained of their fuel overnight, and the low life that did it then refilled them with water. It was either an attempt to put off detection or a plan to cause an accident. The perpetrators were never caught. The link that failed in the prevention of the accident was the pilot, who did a water test, but he was looking for either the globules at the bottom of the cup or a clear dividing line marking the junction between water and fuel, he did not expect the whole cup to contain water.


So not only check the tanks, make you do the water test correctly.

Jim
 
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