Aircraft Fuel Gauge - 7. Because the engine moves and vibrates on shock mounts, a flexible fuel hose, such as an Aeroquip 303-6, must be used for the fuel line between the gascolator and the carburetor. Its minimum inside diameter is 3/8" and its size is identified as a -6.
Hot weather combined with high engine compartment temperatures can be conducive to the formation of vapor lock in the fuel lines. You can minimize the risk of vapor lock taking place in your fuel system by:
Aircraft Fuel Gauge
Fuel Starvation Fuel starvation, at the very least, means a forced landing or, worse, a crash landing which may or may not be fatal. There are a number of causes for this problem. The most mortifying being that the pilot simply allows the engine to run out of fuel.
Fuel Selector Valve
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So, who or what is to blame? Believe it or not, sometimes the fuel system installation or the design of the individual component parts may trick the pilot into jumping to the wrong conclusion or taking the wrong corrective action.
Here are the most frequently cited causes for fuel starvation: This is an important component for these aircraft fuel systems. According to the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), the fuel selector valve "allows the pilot to choose which tank is feeding fuel to the engine.
Some systems require you to alternate between Left and Right tanks, while others offer a Both position. Some aircraft might favor one side over the other when Both is selected; select the appropriate side to rectify any fuel imbalance.
Fuel Pressure Gauge
The selector also has an Off position.” "We Proudly Support Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund that serves United States Military Personnel experiencing the Invisible Wounds of War: Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Post Traumatic Stress (PTS). Please visit website (www.fallenheroesfund.org) and help in their valiant effort".
If fuel pumps are installed within the fuel system, a fuel pressure gauge may also be provided. This gauge measures the pressure within the fuel lines. The normal operating pressure can be found in the AFM/POH or on the gauge by color coding.
As the temperature in the tank changes, the density and hence volume of the fuel will also change. Therefore, a vented tank is a good idea because it allows fuel to escape if expansion has occurred at elevated temperatures.
Regulatory requirements specify that the system must allow flow rates to exceed 150 percent of the takeoff fuel consumption for the aircraft engine. Occasionally booster pumps are also used as a means for increasing gravity fed systems – typically for engines with fuel injection instead of carburetor-based systems.
Fuel Pump System
It's True Finally, if the engine quits, immediately switch to the other tank. . . if you have one. A logical procedure, if you stay calm, cool and collected, isn't it? Maybe that tank has fuel and/or its vent is not plugged.
Low-wing airplanes with tanks installed in their wings need pumps to transport the fuel from the tanks to the carburetor or injectors. A system dependent for pumps feeding the engines needs a minimum amount of redundant power achieved by using two fuel pumps, one driven by the main engine and one electrically driven.
The electric auxiliary fuel pump operates from an electrical switch inside the cockpit. Most fuel systems in homebuilts have been surprisingly trouble-free. For the most part, more so than some builder-pilots. Mechanical and fuel management problems do, of course, crop up, but no more frequently than they do in commercially produced certified aircraft.
After leaving the fuel tank, and before reaching the carburetor or injector, the fuel passes through a fuel strainer to get rid of any moisture in the system. These pollutants are heavier than fuel for aircraft so they settle in sumps at the bottom of a strainer.
Fuel Strainers And Sumps
Depending on fuel type and location, the fuel pump may include a drain pipe or outlet. Both gravity feeding and pumped fuel systems can include fuel primers. The fuel primer can be used for injecting gasoline directly into the cylinder before launching the vehicle.
In the cold weather when engines find difficulties while starting, fuel primers help as long as the fuel is not frozen. I attribute this success mostly to the technical guidance made generally available by the EAA for more than 40 years through its publications, forums, Technical Counselors, and the free exchange of information among member homebuilders themselves.
If your fuel system has been reliable and trouble-free, don't be too quick to change it unless you understand the need for doing so. . . after all, it could be that your way is better than those I'll be describing.
Moreover, it is vital that fuel tanks remain sealed at all times to avoid any external contamination to reach the fuel system, including dirt, dust, and water. There are some tasks that an aircraft fueler is usually responsible for.
Fuel Primer
Would it surprise you, however, to learn that there have been pilots who have experienced engine failure due to fuel starvation, made a forced landing, or a crash landing, only to be informed later by the FAA that they found evidence that the other tank
still had fuel at the time of the incident? Instead, installation could be done by deflating the tank and folding or rolling it to its minimum expression, placing the bladder through a check hole, and unfolding it in the desired place.
During installation, the personnel must guarantee there are no wrinkles to avoid contamination from entering the tank. 2. Each fuel tank must be vented, otherwise the fuel will not flow. Usually some attempt is made to increase the head pressure on the fuel.
For example, a curved tube facing the slipstream is sometimes soldered to the filler cap. This type of installation can be risky if the cap is improperly installed with the tube facing backwards. A better arrangement is to run the vent line from the fuel tank to some point below the fuselage.
Some Final Words
Its outlet opening, too, faces forward to take advantage of the ram air effect. The ram air, in effect, increases the fuel head pressure and helps gravity move the fuel to the carburetor. Not too many years ago, this sort of information was quite scarce and the average homebuilder had to do his own research, and figure out for himself what he needed to install a functional fuel system.
Each tank has a drain installed below to allow all sediments and water to be safely drained from the tanks together with any fuel remaining. Also, because fuel is not pumped from the bottom of the tank but from higher levels, it is the bottom of the tank where the fuel is more susceptible to contamination.
This explains why certain amounts of fuel in the tank are always considered unusable; therefore, aircraft manufacturers provide the usable fuel capacity compared to the total fuel capacity. He had to worry about what size fuel lines to install, about vented and non-vented fuel caps, about where and how to install fuel filters, and lots of other details that have since become common knowledge in homebuilder circles.
Tanks must be isolated from, and cleared of personnel compartments by a smoke and fire-proof enclosure. It is important that tanks remain ventilated at all times so that no accumulation of dangerous fumes or vapors occurs while in the air or on the ground.
Fuel Tanks
6. The gascolator is the second fuel strainer in the system. Its screen is finer than that of the finger screen (about 60 mesh/in.) and its job is to screen out smaller particles which may escape past the finger screen.
Any water in the fuel will also settle to this point. The gascolator is mounted on the firewall in the lowest part of the fuel system, if possible, and should be fitted with a quick drain valve.
5. The rigid fuel line between the fuel tank and firewall is made of 5052-0 aluminum tubing and should be fitted with flared AN fittings. The minimum acceptable outside tubing diameter is 3/8". The fuel line will run downstream from the fuel tank shut-off valve to the gascolator.
Fuel pump systems are the ones used in more complex aircraft with low-wing designs, and they are more suitable when using integral tanks. Yet, the other two types of tanks can also be used with a fuel pump system.
Bladder Fuel Tank
As you know now, the engine fuel system of an aircraft is simpler than many people imagine, especially when it comes to light aircraft with a single engine. Obviously, the bigger the airplane the more necessary fuel pumps become to make sure the flow is steady as required for proper operation.
Large transport category aircraft use Fuel Quantity Management Systems which make use of capacitive measuring systems. Basically a system which can sense the fuel quantity using the electric capacitance of air and fuel as a means to sense how much fuel is inside a tank.
These tend to be considerably more accurate than mechanical gauges. The first component in an aircraft fuel system is the fuel tank. Aircraft fuel tanks are critical components of fuel systems since they store a flammable fluid while being exposed to vibration, aerodynamic forces, heat, cold, inertial loads, and even lightning strikes during flights.
1. The fuel tank(s) in a gravity flow fuel system must be at a higher level than the carburetor to ensure adequate fuel flow. It is an ideal system for high wing aircraft but just about automatically rules out low wing aircraft with wing tanks.
Gravity Feed Fuel System
The indicator must be calibrated to read zero when that tank is actually empty of all usable fuel (in level flight). Bouncing is fine as long as they don't bounce when the tank is actually empty.
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Of course, there are many more details behind the operation of a fuel system, and they will vary widely from one aircraft to another. Yet, we will do our best to describe the most critical aspects of fuel systems found in different types of aircraft, so keep reading to find them out.
Tank Ventilation
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