The easy way to pop this off is to almost completely remote the screw but leave a few threads engaged. Then take your cleco pliers and put the fork under the arm and the screw in the socket side and pop it right off.
The easy way to pop this off is to almost completely remove the screw but leave a few threads engaged. Then take your cleco pliers and put the fork under the selector arm and the screw head in the socket side, squeeze and pop it right off. It does not take much force. El-Cheapo fuel selector arm puller that most metal airplane builders have in their tool box!
Have you ever heard the saying, "Lipstick on a pig"? You are spending tens of thousands on your plane and you won't spend a few hundred to upgrade a part that is known to fail and with a failure mode that can be life threatening, why?I couldn't bring myself to buy the Andair valve, but I did upgrade to this fancy fuel selector lever:
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/eppages/fuelvalveLever.php?clickkey=454645
I think it looks a lot nicer, and may be a bit more secure.
Chris
Have you ever heard the saying, "Lipstick on a pig"? You are spending tens of thousands on your plane and you won't spend a few hundred to upgrade a part that is known to fail and with a failure mode that can be life threatening, why?
Thanks for all the helpful suggestions with the valve...
I was out in the shop this morning studying the routing of the fuel lines. It looks like 3, 90 degreeish bends in the line to exit the fuselage - easily done, but I imagine you cannot pre-bend the line before setting it in place. What techniques have others used to do this?
I'm not aware of the Van's valves from the past decade or so having any issues. I do know some very old ones did, though even then they gave plenty of advance notice by becoming very hard to turn. Am I wrong on either count?Have you ever heard the saying, "Lipstick on a pig"? You are spending tens of thousands on your plane and you won't spend a few hundred to upgrade a part that is known to fail and with a failure mode that can be life threatening, why?
...I recommend using 90 degree bulkhead fittings where the lines penetrate the fuselage and straight fitttings where they enter the valve support box....
Thanks - couple of questions. (i) why a 90 deg fitting through the hull (as opposed to a straight through) (ii) if I decide to run the line through the fuselage, how much length should I leave? I can see that REALLY getting in the way!
On the day of my first flight with my SuperCub (Van's style fuel valve) I did a high speed taxy (not very fast in a SuperCub) and it could have very well saved my life. On roll out at the end (where the high voltage line crosses the end of my runway) my engine stopped. After a little searching I discovered that when switching from left to both tanks, I stopped with the handle inverted. With so much going on in anticipation of the first flight I messed up big time and turned the fuel selector off, that's why I now install Andair valves, you have to intentionally act in order to turn them off.
That and people have had them stick in flight, with no warning. Just not worth the risk, IMHO.
Because the fuel line has to make a 90 degree turn to go through the fuselage and the fitting eliminates one more bend and allows you to make a short straight line to go between the tank and the bulkhead fitting.
Just a thought, not trying to hijack the thread or criticize, but I have always been told to never install lines, rigid or otherwise, without a bend or some sort of compensation for flex in order to protect the flare?
Have you ever heard the saying, "Lipstick on a pig"? You are spending tens of thousands on your plane and you won't spend a few hundred to upgrade a part that is known to fail and with a failure mode that can be life threatening, why?
No go on the kink....
No go on the kink....
There is little to no relative movement between those joints. The bends in the line will take care of any expansion/contraction if any, but you need to lose the kink I am afraid.
Darn - I was SOOOOOOO close
Definitely need to redo the line Tom. Need some aluminum? Come to Princeton I have couple rolls of Tony's stock. He knew he would need a lot...