Day: March 25, 2017

And not a drop of fuel spilt! We had quite high winds during much of today so there was no great incentive to open 77ASY’s hangar doors for fear of the wind catching and damaging them. But the gusts subsided later in the afternoon so I took the opportunity to test out my new fuel rig for the first time.

And it worked great. Here are some shots that I took after I’d finished topping up 77ASY’s tanks – rather poor quality I’m afraid as I only had my phone with me, having left my camera behind at home.

It took about 5 minutes to pump about 15 litres into the first tank – so about 3 litres/minute. That’s a bit slower than I’d planned using the original pump that in the event actually didn’t work at all, but at least it was good just see fuel being pumped into the tanks at last!

After I’d moved the steps and rig a couple of times to add fuel to each tank, it took me about 15 minutes to pump 25 litres. This is still a bit on the slow side, but still manageable compared to other methods of refuelling which are inherently more risky.

As a result, as the pump I’m now using only cost just over 25€ including delivery and didn’t seem to have a very high current drain (the whole system remained perfectly cool while being continuously run) I already have plans to acquire a second one and mount it in parallel with the first to increase the flow rate.

At the same time, now I know that the concept is sound, I think that I’ll change the rig’s rear feet for wheels and add a handle on its top so it’s easily movable around the aircraft. And I’ll also do what I always intended to do, namely add hook arrangements on either side so the fuel delivery tube and power cables can be neatly stowed.

So after a hiatus caused by the original rubbish pump that I acquired fom the USA, I’m glad to say that I’m now back in business with a concept that works as intended and can only now be improved upon 😀