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No interior fabric on my Clipper interior. Side panels are heavy cardboard material with the upholstery attached to it and Velcro’s in. Much easier to work on and inspect.
No progress this week, been doing some home improvements, but I have a question. I was looking at wing tank options. I am using wag aero wings and a O-235-C1B. I can use their 23 gallon tanks (11 1/2 per side) or 36 total (18 per side). 23 gallons I have everything I need to do wings, If I go with the 18 gallon tanks I need to change the brackets in bay 1 for drag tube. Thoughts on tank size? And What is the Diameter and thickness of the drag tube in bay 1 (PN#10641-2 on the piper drawing for colt-10 that goes through the fuel tank? it does not give this info. Thanks guys.
My Wagabond has the Wag Aero 11.5 gallon wing tanks + the Wag Aero 2 gallon header tank. In my experience, the wing tanks actually hold about 10.5 gallons of fuel each. Part or perhaps all of the difference can be attributed to the air trapped in the tank with the aircraft in the 3-point attitude. During the tests that I have done since purchasing the plane from the builder, I have found that the usable fuel is right at 10 gallons a side. Total usable fuel in my aircraft is 22 gallons. The O-235-L2C in my bird burns about 6.5 gal/hr in cruise, so I have a flight endurance of around 2+30 including taxi, climb, and VFR reserve. That is 225 NM range (no wind, 75% power, 90 KTS) which plenty for 99% of my flying missions. Reduced power can get you more range, depending on winds. In a strong headwind, you may actually get less range at reduced power.
I do recommend the header tank and it is important that the header tank is vented. Mine has a 1/4" aluminum vent line going up the forward door frame to the wing root fairing with a tube extending above the main tank level, then bent forward into the air stream. If you want to measure fuel level in the header tank, there are lots of similar automotive tanks available with either sight glass fittings, a low-fuel float switch, or an SAE 5 fuel sender flange. Some of the vendors will custom build to your specs. You can also build your own header tank out of a piece of large diameter aluminum tubing, with ends of aluminum sheet and bungs as needed. Since you are in the process of fabricating your fuselage, you probably need to figure out your header tank mounting fairly soon.
If you decide on larger wing tanks, there should be little impact on W&B, as the fuel is only slightly aft of CG. My plane is pretty nose heavy when solo even with a wood prop, lightweight starter and alternator. My emergency tool box in the baggage compartment makes 3-point landings a bit more predictable.
Once your plane is finished, it's extremely important to do the fuel flow testing spelled out in AC90-89B. Your DAR will likely require it. That testing will not only determine your usable fuel, it will assure that you have sufficient fuel flow to keep the engine running at full power. I had a friend that crashed his Skybolt on takeoff of the initial test flight due to insufficient fuel flow. While he wasn't injured, it was a real bummer to lose his plane after 5 years of work. See the attached picture of the fuel flow test done on the Rans S-19 that I built.
Since I'm not the builder, I can't help you with the size of the drag tubing. I have had pretty good luck with email response from Wag Aero on technical questions regarding the aircraft.
Thanks for the information. I was leaning towards the 18 gal tanks because I was not going to use the header tank as I am installing the control wheel column. So I was going to set up fuel system like the colts, 2 18 gallon tanks. Steve do you know the tube diameter for the drag tube that goes through the fuel tank, I will make one up. 6Papa I also did the fuel tests on my other builds, my sport trainer has the wag aero 11.5 tanks, I do use the header tank on that one because I have the room because of the control sticks, and I only have 23 total, 22 usable. The wag tanks are only just over 10 gals each side and 2.5 in header.
Perfect, thank you for the dimensions. I found the part number in the drawing but couldnt find it on the tube size sheets. You guys are the best, I hope to be back to welding next week.