Fuel tank repair / replacement after bird strike

[UnPossible]

Hey - unfortunately, I am in the position of figuring out how to best repair my plane after a bird strike.

I was cruising back from Oshkosh at 6500 feet when wham! A bird hit the leading edge of my left fuel tank and left a pretty good sized dent.



I was able to make it home (and the plane did not fly any differently). However, now I am working with the insurance company to figure out how to best fix this situation.

I am assuming that with all the proseal holding the tanks together, disassembly is not a very likely option.... leaving the best option to build a replacement tank. With my plane being a quick-build kit, I have never had the pleasure of building a tank.

1) For those of you that have built them, how many hours am I looking at to build a new tank? (experienced builder, but have not worked much with proseal).

2)Are there any companies out there that sell assembled fuel tanks? I thought I remembered a couple, but am not having much luck finding them. (preferably in the DFW area)

3) Any estimates on how long it will take to swap the new tank for the old one?

Thanks much for any insight you can provide.

Jason

[Driving '67]

Jason,

I had Evan Johnson build me a set of tanks. Evan is well known and has built hundreds of RV tanks. He is located in Northern California. He can be hard to reach sometimes but the quality was excellent. PM me if you'd like his contact information.

Cheers Jim

[RONSIM]

Evan built us the left one for an RV-4 that flew a little low and contacted a fire hydrant. ---trimming and matching the existing screw holes was the toughest part.

Ron

[Lemmingman]

Hi Jason,
Building a single tank is pretty easy. There is lots of information on various builder sites. Proseal just increases the time to build a bit. You find yourself mixing small batches as you go. I dont think I ever mixed a batch bigger than 60g when I was doing it. If I were doing it again...and I was committed to knocking it out as quick as I could I'd say I could go from a pile of parts to mounting it in a few days. I'm leaving some curing time in there for the proseal. If you are already good at riveting, you could knock it out in a business week easily. Just follow the instructions and have fun. Proseal is messy, but pretty easy to work with.

If you go this route salvage the 'Z' brackets. These are already drilled to match your wing spar.

[dweyant]

I had to pull one of my tanks for a leak right after first flight.

Getting to the bolts on the back of the spar was a pain. Maybe there is a trick I didn't figure out, but some of the bolts are a real PITA to get on from the access holes.

-Dan

[Jerry Fischer]

Originally Posted by UnPossible

Hey - unfortunately, I am in the position of figuring out how to best repair my plane after a bird strike.

I was cruising back from Oshkosh at 6500 feet when wham! A bird hit the leading edge of my left fuel tank and left a pretty good sized dent.



I was able to make it home (and the plane did not fly any differently). However, now I am working with the insurance company to figure out how to best fix this situation.

I am assuming that with all the proseal holding the tanks together, disassembly is not a very likely option.... leaving the best option to build a replacement tank. With my plane being a quick-build kit, I have never had the pleasure of building a tank.

1) For those of you that have built them, how many hours am I looking at to build a new tank? (experienced builder, but have not worked much with proseal).

2)Are there any companies out there that sell assembled fuel tanks? I thought I remembered a couple, but am not having much luck finding them. (preferably in the DFW area)

3) Any estimates on how long it will take to swap the new tank for the old one?

Thanks much for any insight you can provide.

Jason

I do RV tank Builds & if you send me the tank I can turn it around after replacing with a new kit ( you order kit & have it sent from Vans to my address & I install same). my cell is 678-770-01three one. after receipt of tank & skin it takes about 1-2 weeks to complete. No Damage History with a replacement skin.