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Flop Tube

Flop tube

OK... What the neck is a flop tube?

Did you ever build any RC airplanes? Little tank has a tube in the fuel tank that flops around so it's always on the bottom. Vans has a flop tube option for fuel tanks. It's a braided line with the pickup on one end and connects to a fitting at the forward corner of the tank. It literally flops down whether right side up or up side down. The first rib also has a hole with a hinged flapper to hold fuel in the first bay.
Hope that helps.
 
Unless you are installing an inverted oil system, then a flop tube is a waste of time in my opinion.. You will likley lose oil pressure before fuel starvation.
 
Unless you are installing an inverted oil system, then a flop tube is a waste of time in my opinion.. You will likley lose oil pressure before fuel starvation.

Agreed. Many years ago, I installed a flop tube in my -8, but didn't go with the inverted oil system. As you say, the airplane was definitely oil pressure-limited.

I didn't bother with any inverted systems in the -14A. There's really no need for them given the light-duty aerobatics that one might reasonably expect to fly in this airplane. Should one's mission require more extended periods of inverted flight, then this is not the right airplane.

You can have all of the positive-g fun you want in any of the RVs - no flop tube required.
 
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