Harold Kovac wrote:

I've been following this site for a while, and this brings up a question
I've had for a while. Is there any good reason not to plumb the return line
into a tee and split the return flow to both tanks? This would enable a fuel
valve that is either on or off....no question of selecting a tank that is
empty or nearly so.
Harold Kovac...RV9A ready to start Fuse.

The tee is kind of problematic. The amount of fuel going to each tank
will be a function of the pressure in the tank. Even if only half of it
went to the wrong tank that would be too much.

Paul Lamar

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Traditional dogma says that with a low wing aircraft you don't want to T the tanks together (ie. in pipers you dont set the fuel selector to 'Both' just in Cessnas).  IMHO I would rather specifically control which tank is using fuel and where the return is going.

IMHO, the benifits of returning the fuel to the tank significantly outweigh the hastle of installing a return line or two.  Namely, elimination of vapor lock and near elimination of water as a contaminant.

I have one line returning to the left tank only with a dedicated timer (actually fuel flow) so that when I am using the right tank I don't overflow the left.  It was very easy to install and there is little guesswork.

I have also removed my fuel sumps and don't drain the fuel on pre-flight.  Any water in the bottom of the tank will quickly be mixed on start up and not present a hazard.

Dave Leonard

 
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