Charlie Kuss wrote:
Herbert,
One very good way to handle the problem of switching the returned fuel
back to
the tank it was drawn from is to use an Andair fuel selector valve
(U.K.) You can
see the valve I'm referring to at:
http://www.andair.co.uk/
The valve in question is at the lower, left of the home page.
I would strongly urge you NOT to mount the fuel selector on the
firewall. You
could mount it slightly forward of that area to keep fuel lines short
and greatly
increase safety. There seems to be a greatly exaggerated fear of fuel
lines/connections in the cockpit area. A properly designed and assembled
(I'm
talking double flared, 37 degree lines) system will be very safe.
Charlie Kuss
RV-8 wings
Boca Raton, Fl.
Charlie, Thanks for voicing something that desperately needed to be said.
The urge to "get all the fuel lines out of the cockpit" is very misplaced
(IMHO). It played a part in John Denver's crash (the rube-goldburg remote
fuel selector valve). I'd rather have no leak at all but when I ask myself
which I would rather have, a fuel leak in the cockpit, or a fuel leak under
the cowl, I'll take the cockpit leak every time. First because I will know
it as soon as it starts to develop, and second, because a leak under the
cowl is almost guaranteed to be a fire not just a leak.
FWIW, I put every possible fuel line inside the cockpit (and visible)
including the gascolator (sp?)and fuel pumps. (BTW, the normal aircraft
practice of putting the gascolator on the engine side of the firewall in the
hottest possible spot near the exhaust has got to be one of the most
senseless ideas ever) One reason for this was to minimise the number and
length of fuel lines so not all of this sage advice will apply to all
airplanes, especially canards.
Phew! Glad I got my venting done early in the day. Getting off my soapbox
now.
Tracy Crook
rws@altavista.net
www.rotaryaviation.com
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