Wing Tank Bulk Purchase Update

[edclee]

I have these tanks , flown for nearly 300 hours. There is no detectable effect of lateral balance while taxiing or flying fri “sloshing “ fuel. I use facet cube pumps with the one-way fuel flow option. It takes about 12 minutes to transfer the full tank to the main tank. I usually run 6 minutes the switch to the other tank then back to the first for 9 minutes to be sure it is empty. I have flown with one tank full and the other empty and it takes very little lateral trim to correct. You will love these things!
Ed Lee Sonex 1212


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[edclee]

PS facet says you can run the pumps dry continuous for 15 minutes with no damage
Ed


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[sonex1374]

Thanks for the update, Ed.

For anyone still interested, we're just about down to the final week for the wing tank bulk purchase. If you'd like to participate, please send me a note as soon as you can. The cutoff is August 31.

Jeff

[WaiexN143NM]

hi all, jeff,
thanks for organizing this purchase. who makes the tanks? this is a good upgrade for legacy model sonex, waiex, xenos with the standard 16 gal. tank.
lets us know who/where to send the deposit check and ammount.
looking forward to installing these.


WaiexN143NM
Michael

[WaiexN143NM]

Hi all,
if anyone is sitting on the fence about this, this is a gr eat opportunity to due this. we can post on here any tips or hints during installation. i plan on install in nov when visiting tucson. i also was thinking of ordering the blue fuel foam cubes from sonex to prevent sloshing. about 26 needed so about $40 plus shipping. thoughts?

waiexN143NM
Michael

[sonex1374]

Last chance to participate. Deadline is Friday. Contact me ASAP if you'd like in.

Jeff

[Ray1966]

Hello,i was just curious if this deal went through? And when do y'all expect them?

[N418SX]

Having had these types of ER fuel tanks in my RV-8 and in my RV-6A, from http://hotelwhiskeyaviation.com/home/, the only concerns are bladder relief. Baffling was not an issue. CG was not an issue. Installation fretting concerns were addressed with some UTFE tape and some cool mounting brackets/hose clamps that suspend the tube in the center of the lightening holes.

My most sincere thanks to Jeff for putting this together and going above and beyond to include me in this group purchase.

[sonex1374]

The tanks are being completed now, and the first set has already arrived. Quality looks excellent. Total weight of the tanks and associated hardware (minus fuel lines) is 6.5 lbs per tank and 4 lbs hardware for a system weight of 17 lbs.

Jeff

[WaiexN143NM]

Hi all,
Just want to update the group on the status of my wing tank upgrade. I think we had had group of a dozen or so that bought in on the group tanks. I finished mine up in ten days , could have easily done this in a week, but had other things going on, and probably only spent 6 hours a day at the hangar at ryan field in tucson.
I did my job with the wings on. no need to take off, and no need to drill out the rivets on the bottom
leading edge D section. I installed a flush inspection cover plate from www.mykitairplane.com , has a 4 1/2 inch opening, .032. Installed underneath ahead of spar. installed in rib bay just inboard of the pitot tube. Watch when you cut the hole you are ahead of the lower spar cap. you also need to leave room for the inside riveted flange. Put inspection cover flange on outside mark drill cleco as you go. dimple flange and wing . simply cut the flange in half to fit in the smaller opening hole, place inside and flush rivet. You can easily reach up into wing, remove the two pitot lines, reroute to front liteing holes.
bend the tabs aft by hand or with pliers so that the tank can slide in. The most inboard pitot tab can be left, the tank doesnt go in that far. I used teflon tape from acs. then additionally wrapped with some clear then tape jeff gave me . mark tube on outboard end rib centerline, then measure for rib centerlines 10 in , until the last inboard wrap, which is only 5 in.
slide rt tank in until inside flange hits rib. the tank will tip slightly forward for skin curevature. mark flange on skin with pencil inside . take some good measurements , mark on top of wing center mark.
use a 2 1/2 in hole saw, deburr. slide in tank. i used aftermarket lockable fuel caps from acs. cap flange already drilled , i set this cap into skin hole and inside tank flange. self centers. marked 6 holes, remove tanks, drill skin. re insert tank, drill flange,cleco as you go, remove , debur. the supplied usher caps could be used with cap screws or rivets.
the plans show 3 welded tabs. on tube. my kit came with 3 alum angle pieces per side with band clamps
slide in the tube , cleco via flange in place. Mix up some 5 min jb weld . tack in place hold in position with tape. remove when cured, fillet in with more glue. install band clamp. drill 3 holes in tabs against rib. i installed rivnuts in ribs. the vent lines i made out of the supplied 1/4 in tubing . The supplied safe air drains . get a pair of male and female 1/8 npt extenders for each side. you will want to see the end of drain out of the skin, for access and check for leakage. install the drains with the extenders on the tanks outside of the wing. sight the tanks with flange slightly tipped forward. see the angle of the drain. take this into account when drilling the holes on bottom inboard for the drains .
the finger strainers thread into inboard port on tank. get a pair of fiber washers from the local hardware store, screw onto finger strainer. the threads are not very tight , so use a healthy dose of permatex 2. Thats what i used on all threads , except the an flared fuel fittings.
I also drilled 2 2. 1/2 in holes underneath near root to access the fuel fittings to tighten onto fuel ports at inboard end of tanks.
Next post later today will detail inside aircraft details, and kit observations.

WaiexN143NM
Michael