Trikepilot Social

Hi. i fly a AC Clipper.
Is there any tips how to check fuel level in flight specially whith passenger in backseat whith their legs in front of the fuel tank?
Lars in Sweden.

Hi Lars,

Set up a video camera on a tripod. Point it towards the sky. Fly by the camera. Land and check the tape. You will see what the fuel level was during that flight! Just kidding. I have not got a clue how to check it in flight but I would suggest taking off with a full tank and know how much you burn per hr and go from there, always allow one gallon reserve for safety. George

What about holding a hand mirror for a visual check? You could fix it on a line so there's no risk of it entering the prop.

Hi Mike
After long time I couldn't enter the site finally am in.
Hope you enjoy the new trike. I'm looking for the "Pilot operation book" for the Tanarg ES with Ixess13.
do you maybe have it?
Thank you
Meir

Some of my customers here install a fuel gauge in the dash, it is digital, and it count how many fuel you burn. Link here http://www.mglavionics.com/html/infinity_singles.html model FF-1 Fuel Management System

It's true the passenger's right leg (calf is in front of the fuel gage tube), however, before take off, I just point that out to the passenger and let them know I will be checking it occasionally. Make sure your passenger has shoes that won't come off, and just grip their pants in front of the shin, lift forward and out, look at the gas tube, and stick their leg back. It's actually VERY easy.

I just finished changing out the last part of fuel line after installing my Racor fuel filter / water separator (see my profile pics for details). The last part of the hose I changed was from the fuel shut off valve to the pickup at the bottom rear of the fuel tank. The end of the fuel hose where it inserts into the bottom / rear of the tank goes onto a nylon fitting, that nylon fitting appears to be inserted into a rubber bushing that holds it into the tank. It's very hard to see / inspect, and I elected not to take a lot of rear faring off to get a better look at it. But it appears to me to be a bit of a weak spot in the design- in that the rubber bushing (if that is indeed what I'm feeling) will eventually wear out, and start to leak- yet it is hard to inspect. I would have preferred to have seen a more solid connection. to me this seems to be a bit of an achilles heel- if that bushing gets old and brittle it could leak the whole tank out. I suspect (hope) that failure of the rubber bushing would cause a slow leak noticeable on the hangar floor first, instead of a sudden rapid draining of the tank. Here's something important I found out though--- When we switched the hose we had some gas in the tank still, so it came out the fitting as we swapped the new and old lines. The gas didn't spill directly on the floor and I thought we were just amazingly good. Later, I noticed that the silver plastic belly pan that runs underneath the body had gas in it. I made a small drain hole in it at it's lowest part. I believe that if that tank fitting ever leaks, that is where I'll see fuel on the floor. without a little drain hole in the belly pan, a leak at this position may not be noticeable as the belly pan will hold it, and it may all evaporate before a puddle collects in the pan. Thoughts .....