Guru's,
I helped a friend pull his RV-6 fuel tank today because 23 hours into phase-I, it developed a leak. Found the leak and fixed that, but while it was apart an RV-8 builder stopped by and looked around and mentioned there was a revision to the attachment brackets.
He stated that rather than a hole in both the fuel tank bracket and the fuselage bracket; that the fuselage bracket should be a horizontal slot. The rationale is that with the slot, the brackets will still provide up/down support; but in the event of a crash, and the wing being pushed aft, that the tank would pull laterally outward from that slot allowing the tank (and wing) to pull free from the fuselage without rupturing the integral fuel tank...lesser chance of a fire with the tank in one piece. Sure, there is a supply/vent line, but those are relatively small leaks.
My friend is going to call Van's of course, but I thought I'd ask around here too. Any background that someone can share? What do the new RV-6 plans show? Does this make sense?
Thanks in advance for your time.
-Jim
40603
P.S. Yes, it really was a friend. I can only wish I was 23 hours into Phase-I in my ten...that's a ways down the road.
I helped a friend pull his RV-6 fuel tank today because 23 hours into phase-I, it developed a leak. Found the leak and fixed that, but while it was apart an RV-8 builder stopped by and looked around and mentioned there was a revision to the attachment brackets.
He stated that rather than a hole in both the fuel tank bracket and the fuselage bracket; that the fuselage bracket should be a horizontal slot. The rationale is that with the slot, the brackets will still provide up/down support; but in the event of a crash, and the wing being pushed aft, that the tank would pull laterally outward from that slot allowing the tank (and wing) to pull free from the fuselage without rupturing the integral fuel tank...lesser chance of a fire with the tank in one piece. Sure, there is a supply/vent line, but those are relatively small leaks.
My friend is going to call Van's of course, but I thought I'd ask around here too. Any background that someone can share? What do the new RV-6 plans show? Does this make sense?
Thanks in advance for your time.
-Jim
40603
P.S. Yes, it really was a friend. I can only wish I was 23 hours into Phase-I in my ten...that's a ways down the road.