Preflight those fuel vents

[GeeBee]

In thinking about this and "covers" for the vents, it occurs that the "cure" may be worse than the disease. If you forget your vent covers, it could have fatal consequences. Sure you can put red streamers on them, but I've seen a lot of planes return after take off with. the red streamers hanging from the wheel wells (gear pins.....dough!) I think it is safer to preflight them for obstructions, than to cover them. Sure we cover pitot tubes but you can fly without airspeed indications, and if you forget your intake covers, you'll know it before run up, but fuel vents................

[EricJ]

4 hours ago, GeeBee said:

In thinking about this and "covers" for the vents, it occurs that the "cure" may be worse than the disease. If you forget your vent covers, it could have fatal consequences. Sure you can put red streamers on them, but I've seen a lot of planes return after take off with. the red streamers hanging from the wheel wells (gear pins.....dough!) I think it is safer to preflight them for obstructions, than to cover them. Sure we cover pitot tubes but you can fly without airspeed indications, and if you forget your intake covers, you'll know it before run up, but fuel vents................

If you make a cover that breaths but keeps the bugs out, i.e., has a screen, you could mitigate that risk pretty easily.

[FastTex]

That's one of the major value of this forum: always learning about our Mooney!

Never thought about plugging the vents although I check them as part of the pre-flight.

I have bought these PLUGS and I plan to cut them and drill a hole in the center to fit in my vents. I prefer not to insert anything in them...

Thanks all!

[GeeBee]

7 hours ago, EricJ said:

If you make a cover that breaths but keeps the bugs out, i.e., has a screen, you could mitigate that risk pretty easily.

Yeah you could. But you won't know if they work until you forget to remove them unless you want to be a test pilot and test them in flight at flight fuel flows.

 

[EricJ]

10 hours ago, GeeBee said:

Yeah you could. But you won't know if they work until you forget to remove them unless you want to be a test pilot and test them in flight at flight fuel flows.

 

I think it'd be pretty trivial to test one on a piece of tubing to make sure it doesn't block flow.

 

[PT20J]

I wonder how much pressure builds in the tank on a hot day with the vent covered? SB M20-229A (fuel cap AD) says no more than 1/2 psi to test for leakage. 
Skip

[carusoam]

6 minutes ago, PT20J said:

I wonder how much pressure builds in the tank on a hot day with the vent covered? SB M20-229A (fuel cap AD) says no more than 1/2 psi to test for leakage. 
Skip

Enough to let you know something isn’t right... comes with sound, and spraying water...

But when you miss the hint... there is no reset / do over button to look closer a second time...

 

Oddly, the plane was new to me at the time... everything was different than before...

I froze the caps in place... I had a bug block a vent... I had a cap get mis-adjusted, prior to rain...

Being stuck outdoors can make things unbelievably challenging... 

Having an apartment for your aluminum girlfriend is a wise safety idea... but terrible for your monthly finances...

Best regards,

-a-

 

[FloridaMan]

Clogged vents have killed capable pilots. 

[Graf_Aviator]

I have 3D-printed fuel vent covers using flex material, they perfectly fit on my Ovation. I have designed the cover with a small breather hole, about 2mm, maybe 1/16" in size. That allows some air exchange but it is definitely not enough for flight operations with the cover on.

So, I have printed a small storage board also which is glued to the back wall of my luggage compartment. It holds both fuel vent covers and the pitot heat cover... In order to not forget to remove these covers I have added a line to both the outside- and regular check list. Just before starting the engine I turn my head and look to the back. If I see 3 red tags, all of the covers are removed.

In case anyone is interested and wants to print it, I have posted the parts on thingiverse.

Thingiverse Download

Or if you are in my neck of the woods, come by my house in Munich for a chat and I'll print them for you. (After Covid19 has eased of...)

Happy landings !

 

[carusoam]

Fantastic details with pics and an invite, Graf!

Thanks for sharing them.

Best regards,

-a-

[Guest]

Is that hangar floor really wood?

Clarence

[tmo]

I believe it is a wood turntable (think pizza slices, one plane per slice).

[Hank]

Just now, tmo said:

I believe it is a wood turntable (think pizza slices, one plane per slice).

Is that large pizza cut into 8 slices or 12? 

[tmo]

I'll let the Graf answer that ;-)

[Graf_Aviator]

4 hours ago, M20Doc said:

Is that hangar floor really wood?

Clarence

Yes, it is.

I have found a home for my Ovation in this beautiful hangar, it is the home base for a total of 13 planes. 7 of them are parked on a turntable with wooden planks, the rest on the sides. It's a really nice place. Could not have found a better spot.

And I have 3 Mooneys as direct neighbors, an Acclaim, a 231 and this beautiful Porsche Mooney. 

 

 

[Guest]

8 hours ago, Graf_Aviator said:

Yes, it is.

I have found a home for my Ovation in this beautiful hangar, it is the home base for a total of 13 planes. 7 of them are parked on a turntable with wooden planks, the rest on the sides. It's a really nice place. Could not have found a better spot.

And I have 3 Mooneys as direct neighbors, an Acclaim, a 231 and this beautiful Porsche Mooney. 

 

 

Thats really a neat piece of engineering.  How is the turntable powered?  How do the planes on the outside of the turntable get out?

Clarence

 

Edited December 17, 2020 by M20Doc

[Graf_Aviator]

12 hours ago, M20Doc said:

Thats really a neat piece of engineering.  How is the turntable powered?  How do the planes on the outside of the turntable get out?

Clarence

 

Clarence,

 

the turntable is driven by two motors with a friction wheel pressing on to the outside steel frame of the turntable. Takes about 1:30 min to turn 360 degrees.

There are 7 planes max on the turntable, the 8th "pizza slice" is being kept empty and serves as a shunting yard. A plane is pulled from the outside onto the platform in that space and then unloaded accordingly after turning towards the taxi way.

In order to use the space properly on the platform, a low wing plane parks next to a high wing plane and so on.  My direct neighbor is a Tecnam high wing P2012 SMP - that grey massive thing almost looks like a Transall C-160 

So the less frequently used planes are parked outside of the platform. Works quite well.

This type of A/C storage is quite common here in Europe. Normally there is not enough space on our airfields so they have to come up with some storage solutions. Just found this web site with further information on this type of system:

Aero Disc Parking System

 

Merry xmas, 

Edited December 18, 2020 by Graf_Aviator

[FlyingDude]

On 12/17/2020 at 6:53 PM, M20Doc said:

Thats really a neat piece of engineering.

They have those for residential garages in CA and Japan, at least...

[Jim F]

On 12/17/2020 at 7:51 AM, Graf_Aviator said:

Yes, it is.

I have found a home for my Ovation in this beautiful hangar, it is the home base for a total of 13 planes. 7 of them are parked on a turntable with wooden planks, the rest on the sides. It's a really nice place. Could not have found a better spot.

And I have 3 Mooneys as direct neighbors, an Acclaim, a 231 and this beautiful Porsche Mooney. 

 

 

Very cool

[Will.iam]

On 12/17/2020 at 10:51 AM, Graf_Aviator said:

Yes, it is.

I have found a home for my Ovation in this beautiful hangar, it is the home base for a total of 13 planes. 7 of them are parked on a turntable with wooden planks, the rest on the sides. It's a really nice place. Could not have found a better spot.

And I have 3 Mooneys as direct neighbors, an Acclaim, a 231 and this beautiful Porsche Mooney. 

 

 

I guess oil leaks on that wood must be hard to clean up?

[carusoam]

1 hour ago, Will.iam said:

I guess oil leaks on that wood must be hard to clean up?

He has the IO550...  probably no oil leaks... yet.

-a-

[Hector]

In thinking about this and "covers" for the vents, it occurs that the "cure" may be worse than the disease. If you forget your vent covers, it could have fatal consequences. Sure you can put red streamers on them, but I've seen a lot of planes return after take off with. the red streamers hanging from the wheel wells (gear pins.....dough!) I think it is safer to preflight them for obstructions, than to cover them. Sure we cover pitot tubes but you can fly without airspeed indications, and if you forget your intake covers, you'll know it before run up, but fuel vents................

I’m of the same mindset here. Same reason I don’t like any gust lock that clamps onto the flight control surfaces. People have died because we do forget and we do get distracted despite our best intentions. Single point failure. We lost a Mooney at my home field (KHEG) because of blocked fuel vents (mud dubbers inside a hanger) so I do recognize the importance of checking this but I think I’ll stick to thick safety wire. I was at the airport in my hanger when I heard the engine quit on takeoff and thankfully the two folks made it without serious injuries (landed around 100 yards past the end of the runway in the brush).


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[GeeBee]

12 hours ago, Will.iam said:

I guess oil leaks on that wood must be hard to clean up?

It is Germany, they are not allowed to have oil leaks and if they do, they repair them immediately.

Ask my Mercedes mechanic.

 

[Hank]

22 minutes ago, GeeBee said:

It is Germany, they are not allowed to have oil leaks and if they do, they repair them immediately.

Ask my Mercedes mechanic.

 

I just thought Benz engines didn't leak, only lesser engines did that . . . .

[EricJ]

2 hours ago, GeeBee said:

It is Germany, they are not allowed to have oil leaks and if they do, they repair them immediately.

Ask my Mercedes mechanic.

 

I thought Porsche invented oil leaks?