RVG8tor

RVG8tor

Well Known Member
I am about to dive into my QB wings and I have a couple of questions for others that have been down this road. I know that there is a Service Bulletin with regards to the tanks. I was thinking of taking the tanks off the wings to inspect the work behind them and then doing the fuel sender hook ups, is this wise? My worry is the tank will be a pain to put back on. The screws that hold it on are not as flush as I would like but maybe that is the best they can be or it is because they are not torqued down to the final setting.

I bought the parts to put in a flop tube pick up in one tank. The folks at Van's said this can be done on QB wings. After reading the plans the fuel sender goes in the second bay of the tanks. Has anyone done this without taking the tank apart? I am not sure all of the items needed for the flop tube install can be done through the access hole in the end. I am thinking it would require removal of the rear baffle.

Thanks for any help, oh and feel free to mention any other gotchas with the QB wings.

Cheers
 
Tank Stuff

I'm working on tank pieces and parts now for my SB tanks (one with flop tube), so FWIW:

Tank removal shouldn't be a big deal once you get the z-bracket bolts loose (and I believe the bottom skins on the QB are only on temporarily when they arrive so this should be easy).

If your mounting screws aren't fitting well, you can use the opportunity to improve the fit by re-dimpling skin holes, increasing the depth of countersunk holes on the main spar, etc. as/if required.

In looking at the plans for mounting the float sender in the second bay, you'll have to remove the rear baffle (or design some kind of rear baffle mounting hole/plate)...the holes in the inner tank ribs are very small and I don't see any way to install this in the second bay through the access hole.

The flop tube itself shouldn't be a big deal.

The trap door, anti-hangup brackets etc. will be easy to install if you have an angle drill/angle drill attachment once the rear baffle is off.

You really don't need the flop tube for most RV acro but only you can assess whether or not this will be worth the effort!

Good luck,
Mike
 
I am still up in the air

Transporter said:
I'm working on tank pieces and parts now for my SB tanks (one with flop tube), so FWIW:

Tank removal shouldn't be a big deal once you get the z-bracket bolts loose (and I believe the bottom skins on the QB are only on temporarily when they arrive so this should be easy).

If your mounting screws aren't fitting well, you can use the opportunity to improve the fit by re-dimpling skin holes, increasing the depth of countersunk holes on the main spar, etc. as/if required.

In looking at the plans for mounting the float sender in the second bay, you'll have to remove the rear baffle (or design some kind of rear baffle mounting hole/plate)...the holes in the inner tank ribs are very small and I don't see any way to install this in the second bay through the access hole.

The flop tube itself shouldn't be a big deal.

The trap door, anti-hangup brackets etc. will be easy to install if you have an angle drill/angle drill attachment once the rear baffle is off.

You really don't need the flop tube for most RV acro but only you can assess whether or not this will be worth the effort!

Good luck,
Mike
Click to expand...

Mike,

Mission wise I wanted the flop tube but went with the QB to get flying sooner. I found one builder site, the did work the sender in the second bay and made all of the mods without taking the tank apart. However in the end he did not install the flop tube, he had to make a cover to close the hole in bay two and he had already installed the hinge door in the tank.

I am really torn but figure I can make this change at a future date. I think I will go with the normal set up for now and get flying sooner. Flying weather is limited for a couple of month around here so maybe I can make this a winter project.

My mission was to do dogfighting in my RV (ex fighter pilot), there are time doing this that you need negative "G". If a formation rejoin is messed up you might need negative "g", however I think these situations will be short in duration and should not hurt anything. At this point I just want to get flying. I guess I can always sell the parts if I don't use them.

Cheers
 
Tank Stuff, Cont'd.

Mike,
Another option might be to order a set of tanks with the mods already done (or build a second set), then sell the original QB tanks.

Lots of builders don't want to mess with the Proseal, etc. and might be interested in a set of tanks with regular senders and fuel pickups, particularly if they're new from a QB.

See: http://www.evansaviationproducts.com/aerobatic mods page.htm for one option; has some good photos of the aerobatic mods.

Regards,
Mike
 
Do it now.

My tanks were the quickbuild tanks also. I elected to put the flop tube in both tanks so I never needed to worry about being on the correct tank for acro.

If you plan on painting your plane before flying definitly do the mod now. Would hate to have to do it worrying about paint.

Buy a couple of the round tank access plates that the senders mount to from Vans. Pretty sure they come without the mounting holes in them for the sender or the standard pick up tube. If not then request them without those holes or just make them using the old one as a template.

Remove the plates with the sender and pick up from your quick build tanks. It's a bear getting the pro seal to give up the plates but they will come off. Do it carefully so as to not damage the tank. Don't worry about bending or damaging the plates as you are going to replace them with the new plates. The access hole you create by removing the plates will allow you to do the mods inside the tank for the slosh tube per the slosh tube instructions (trap door, tube guard and new location for the pick up fitting). Do the mods with the tank flat on the bench so as to contain all the chips in the bay you are working in. Once your done with all the work in this bay you can vacuum all the chips out.

The way I mounted the sender in the next bay was to cut the same size access hole for the Vans access plate. Install nut plates using the access cover plate as a guide for hole locations. You can segment in a doubler behind the skin for the nut plates if you desire. Install the sender into the access plate. Use the access hole to vacuum out all the chips from making the hole.

Remove all remains of pro seal from the tank end rib. Pro seal the access plates up and install them. There are other threads covering the fun you can have with pro seal! They also cover sealing the covers, screws, senders, use the cork gasket or don't use the gasket. I didn't use the gasket.

I did not remove the rear baffle to do any of these mods.

No leaks to date.

This info is worth what you paid for it, hope it helps. This is how I did it.

Ted
 
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