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ER Tanks - and roll rate

U

Unkgd

Active Member
Folks,
Recently picked up a RV 10 kit. AM currently evaluating the potential of installing either the SafeAir1 ER wing tanks or leading edge tanks to get more than 60 gallons of fuel.
I have gone on the demo ride at Van's and was quite impressed with the handling of the plane as it is built.
I have done a search on this forum on the topic below and haven't been able to find the answer.
Has anyone compared the roll rate and stability of a stock RV10 versus one with ER tanks? If so, if you could direct me to the information it would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Bill
 
I Don't Have an RV-10 but ...

I can give you some general information from my RV-6A. I built my plane with airfoil conforming aluminum tanks that extend each wing 9 inches between the end of the stock wing and the stock fiberglass tips. The tanks were manufactured by Farn Reed of Grants Pass, Oregon in 1996 and the fuel capacity is increased by 17 gallons. Farn has died and the tanks are no longer available. Richard VanGrunsven was very uncomfortable because of the extra stress on the longer wing - he recommended going to a design that contained the fuel within stock wing envelope if I just had to carry extra fuel. I have flown it all over the country for the past five years and it flies very well with crisp roll response. I get an additional 1.6 hours of fuel burn at WOT and 2450 rpm out of the tip tanks. In 2007 I developed some 3" span wing tips for short cross country air races (www.sportairrace.org) and they are attached directly to the end of the wings after the tip tanks and stock tips are removed, reducing the wing span by 3 feet. The roll rate has not been measured but it is noticeably faster. If you keep all of your fuel within the stock wing design envelope the only thing that should effect the roll rate should be the mass of the fuel and the added hardware. With the aux. tanks empty I doubt that you could measure a difference and with them full (like mine way out there on the tips) the roll rate will still be quite fast.

Bob Axsom
 
I had the safeair tanks in mine and am going to put them in my 10 currently under construction. I flew a couple of other 10's and did not notice any difference. Granted, with them full, there might be some difference due to the mass, but it certainly isn't noticeable.
Van used to sell the extended tips for the 6, which I had also.

Vic
 
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