any fueling tricks and advice?

[13brv3]

Thanks for the comments, and confirming the worst case fears of what could happen at a remote fuel pump. Some sort of rubberized fabric is an interesting option, and likely easier than what I was thinking. I was thinking of making a form for a pour type silicone. I do tend to get carried away with these little side projects though.

[willwestfall]

New to the forum and have only been working on my Onex for a couple of months. What do those flying think about a custom "funnel" for fueling? Something that would screw on the top of the tank and then opens out to protect the canopy. Since the funnel would screw onto the tank, there would be no leaking inside the canopy. The funnel would follow the contour of the windshield around the opening. If pointing the nozzle towards the back is the best way, we ensure enough of a lip to protect the lower portion of the windshield.

Since I am not that far along in the Onex, I will need some assistance with various measurements. Those of you flying think something like this would help?

[13brv3]

The problem with anything that screws on is that the filler neck and the windscreen aren't close to parallel. I've found that PETG is nearly fuel proof, and certainly OK for something you'd hope not to get fuel on. A funnel of sorts could certainly be printed to be a good fit inside the filler neck, then shaped to the canopy. I'd imagine keeping the rigid printed part fairly small, and attach some other material to the lip of the funnel to protect the windscreen. The other option would be a printed funnel with enough of a lip in the back, and long enough to drain onto the cowl rather than the windscreen. I'll eventually get around to making something.

[Tnhelm]

I use a 10 gallon tank with a hand pump on it. Purchased at Northern Tools. I am able to carefully fuel while monitoring the tank level and hand pump speed. A secondary advantage is that I can reverse pump when I need to empty the aircraft tank. I once overfilled the tank while using a regular aviation fuel pump but because the tank is inside and under the windscreen, the over flow fuel just went on the glareshield, not the windscreen. (Actually better than the standard Sonex set up)
https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools ... _200711544
Tom Helm
OneX0137

[daleandee]

I use a 10 gallon tank with a hand pump on it. Purchased at Northern Tools. I am able to carefully fuel while monitoring the tank level and hand pump speed. A secondary advantage is that I can reverse pump when I need to empty the aircraft tank. I once overfilled the tank while using a regular aviation fuel pump but because the tank is inside and under the windscreen, the over flow fuel just went on the glareshield, not the windscreen. (Actually better than the standard Sonex set up)
https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools ... _200711544
Tom Helm
OneX0137

My hanger buddy has a fuel cart that has several of the 5 gallon racing fuel containers with a 12 volt pump and battery onboard. The fuel fill hose has a squeeze handle with an auto shut-off feature. He bought it a few years ago from a flight school at an airport that demanded that the training planes could not store fuel and had to buy from the airport. I've never seen another one like it but it is well made & works good.

The only problem with the solution you have is that it doesn't help you when flying cross country (if you do) as you will have to use the airport fuel station and whatever they have available.

I also must have misunderstood your comment about fuel on the glareshield being better than a standard Sonex set up. On the A model if the filler box is sealed and vented then no fuel enters the cabin during an overflow. Worse case, if not sealed, is you may get some spillage down the inside of the firewall. Personally if I were to build a Onex, I'd have to design a better fuel fill than the stock option. I love Sonex designs but I think that part missed the boat ...

Dale
3.0 Corvair/Tailwheel

[13brv3]

OK, so who's responsible for these measurements... :-) I know exactly what I did. I calculated the height of the rim from the top of the glareshield, then when I was drawing it, I made zero the top of the threaded filler opening. Doh! I was certain this wouldn't be a final version, though it might still be useable. I really have two options in mind.

One is to make a flat plate that attaches to the rim with a raised wall on the sides and rear. That would channel any spill to the cowl and away from the windscreen. I could probably still use this piece for that purpose.

The other option is to make it shorter as originally intended, then attach a mat of some sorts to lay on the windscreen. As easily as the windscreen scratches, I'm not sure if I really want to do that, though it would only be for occasional (if ever) use.

Rusty

[Bryan Cotton]

Good prototype! We make it nice because we make it twice.

[13brv3]

Twice is wishful thinking :-)

[JohnH]

I tried to solve the Onex re-fueling problem by building a simple fuel caddy using a 12V fuel pump and 12 V battery together with clear plastic tube to pump fuel from a jerry can to the tank. Also used a cloth plug to keep the tube in the tank filler, which doubles as the drip container when extracting the tube after re-fueling. It all works very well and I no longer inflict fuel related damage on the windscreen. Pic attached.

[13brv3]

I see I never updated this. I did finish the fuel funnel (shield?), but I haven't used it. I also never took pictures it seems. Up until just this past week I used these pumps for filling from 5 gal jugs- https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010GNM7H4 They work surprisingly well, and also have auto shutoff (that I'd never trust). Just this past week I've been working to finish a new fuel cart with a 15 gal aluminum tank, and an 8 gpm Fill-Rite pump. it has a spin on 10 micron filter, and runs from a Dewalt 20V battery. I guess I need to take some pics.