I wanted to do that, but with the slope of the tank bottom I decided I would get a more repeatable result by sliding the bottom back to the angle bracket, and the top back to the back of the opening. That way the tube sits against two hard stops, and all I have to do is align it vertically.I use a 5/8" diameter wood dowel, and place it straight down into the middle of the fuel cap opening to the tank bottom. My numbers are smaller than Snowflake's because I don't slide the bottom back to the first angle bracket.
I wanted to do that, but with the slope of the tank bottom I decided I would get a more repeatable result by sliding the bottom back to the angle bracket, and the top back to the back of the opening. That way the tube sits against two hard stops, and all I have to do is align it vertically.
For what it's worth, I started with the fuel not visible, and filled until it just touched the bottom of the tube. From there, I added 10L at a time and made marks until it was full. Once full, I went back and interpolated to get the marks I use now. I was surprised how close to linear the fill was... 10L was about 1" of depth, right up to about the 55-60L point.
Here are measurements I made on a paint stick for fuel. I place the stick vertically at the rear of the filler hole to the bottom of the tank.
1"=5 gal.
2 3/4 "=10 gal.
3 5/16"=12 gal
4 1/4"= 15 gal
Full at bottom of filler neck ring.
I was thinking that over-analyzing it was probably not worth the effort... I rarely take off without full tanks at the start of the day too, and i'm light enough that solo full tanks aren't really a problem for aerobatics, even at Van's limit. It's just handy for guessing how much farther I can fly when i'm enroute.the only time I really use less than full tanks is for mod testing and racing, and aerobatics. Even then, I add a little "for the wife and kids and dog". Close (plus a smidge) is OK.![]()
I was thinking that over-analyzing it was probably not worth the effort... I rarely take off without full tanks at the start of the day too, and i'm light enough that solo full tanks aren't really a problem for aerobatics, even at Van's limit. It's just handy for guessing how much farther I can fly when i'm enroute.
One of the local RV pilots marks his dip-stick in "hours remaining," not Gal or L. Saves doing the math.![]()
Just for info, and maybe this is so obvious that it goes without saying (except that was not the case me) but when I did mine for my 6a I just leveled the plane and added fuel to the left tank in 2 gal increments and marked the stick. It never seemed correct and so I again drained the tank and leveled the plane and this time put a 2x4s upright (cut to the exact length) under each wing to hold level. Then I repeated the process and came up with an entirely different and appearently more accurate set of marks). Anyway, I have since lost the stick and was going to repeat the process, however if I knew that the above listed marks for the 6a were obtained in a manner that held the plane level during the process I'd feel comfortable using them and avoiding the whole ordeal. Anyone know?
Just for info, and maybe this is so obvious that it goes without saying (except that was not the case me) but when I did mine for my 6a I just leveled the plane and added fuel to the left tank in 2 gal increments and marked the stick. It never seemed correct and so I again drained the tank and leveled the plane and this time put a 2x4s upright (cut to the exact length) under each wing to hold level. Then I repeated the process and came up with an entirely different and appearently more accurate set of marks). Anyway, I have since lost the stick and was going to repeat the process, however if I knew that the above listed marks for the 6a were obtained in a manner that held the plane level during the process I'd feel comfortable using them and avoiding the whole ordeal. Anyone know?
Just for info, and maybe this is so obvious that it goes without saying (except that was not the case me) but when I did mine for my 6a I just leveled the plane and added fuel to the left tank in 2 gal increments and marked the stick. It never seemed correct and so I again drained the tank and leveled the plane and this time put a 2x4s upright (cut to the exact length) under each wing to hold level. Then I repeated the process and came up with an entirely different and appearently more accurate set of marks). Anyway, I have since lost the stick and was going to repeat the process, however if I knew that the above listed marks for the 6a were obtained in a manner that held the plane level during the process I'd feel comfortable using them and avoiding the whole ordeal. Anyone know?
Just curious if anyone with a 6 has an idea of roughly how much fuel is left in a tank when it can just be barely see when looking into the tank. Am thinking about making up a dipstick and was just curious.
It'd be easy to figure based on filling it from this point, buy I'm laying in bed and not topping off tanks, ATM.![]()
..... Note this is not as accurate on "A" models since due to pitch at rest you can not fill the tanks unless someone is pushing down the tail (filler holes are cut for tail dragger stance??? Gene