R
Richard Suffoletto
I recently flew my RV-7A for the first time and thought I would share an incident that occurred that drove home for me the wisdom of keeping the first flight short..
I thought I had gone to great lengths to be sure I had no fuel leaks anywhere in the system but I was proven wrong. Following are the steps I took before the first flight to check for fuel leaks.
1. Went trough the engine compartment and fuselage and wrenched on all the fuel line connections to be sure they were tight..
2. Pressurized the system with the electric fuel pump and sprayed talcum powder on all fuel lines to check for leaks. The powder will turn blue and yes I vacuumed it off.
3. Had two friends standing by looking for leaks while we did the first engine start and subsequent run ups
4. Did the powder thing in the engine compartment after each run up.
All looked OK so off I went on the first flight? after about 20 minutes I returned and pulled the cowl for inspection. I found an indication of fuel around the gascolator so I turned on the electric fuel pump and fuel came gushing out of the plug on top of the gascolator. I unscrewed it with my fingers. This port is used for the primer system which I didn?t install. Obviously I had not tightened it properly and missed it during repeated checks. It was tight enough to pass all my test and decided to work loose while in the air. It is now tight and covered with red RTV?.
It?s the little things that can get you? Be careful out there?
Richard
I thought I had gone to great lengths to be sure I had no fuel leaks anywhere in the system but I was proven wrong. Following are the steps I took before the first flight to check for fuel leaks.
1. Went trough the engine compartment and fuselage and wrenched on all the fuel line connections to be sure they were tight..
2. Pressurized the system with the electric fuel pump and sprayed talcum powder on all fuel lines to check for leaks. The powder will turn blue and yes I vacuumed it off.
3. Had two friends standing by looking for leaks while we did the first engine start and subsequent run ups
4. Did the powder thing in the engine compartment after each run up.
All looked OK so off I went on the first flight? after about 20 minutes I returned and pulled the cowl for inspection. I found an indication of fuel around the gascolator so I turned on the electric fuel pump and fuel came gushing out of the plug on top of the gascolator. I unscrewed it with my fingers. This port is used for the primer system which I didn?t install. Obviously I had not tightened it properly and missed it during repeated checks. It was tight enough to pass all my test and decided to work loose while in the air. It is now tight and covered with red RTV?.
It?s the little things that can get you? Be careful out there?
Richard