geoffb Posted December 11, 2020 Report Share Posted December 11, 2020 For those of you with long range tanks, how do you live with them? Tankering fuel all the time adds significant weight that's not needed most of the time and has to impact performance. If you only fill up when needed, have you had any issues with the tank sealant? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
231MJ Posted December 11, 2020 Report Share Posted December 11, 2020 You are correct, keeping them full adds far too much weight. I only fill them for long flights otherwise I keep about 5 gallons in each. In the 15 years I have owned the plane, the tanks have never leaked - keeping some fuel in them must help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carusoam Posted December 11, 2020 Report Share Posted December 11, 2020 Use what you need... Don’t fear the old sealant rules... Unless you are storing your plane outside on the ramp... The purpose of the extended tanks is to allow for the PIC to select passengers or fuel... There is not a lot of reasoning to carry too much fuel... Fewer passengers and bags Longer T/O runs Slower climb rates More intense fire after the accident Putting off resealing top access panels for a few more years vs. a few less years... Tankering when you want to, not because you have too... These are things that don’t come out in internet based conversations... We aren’t saving the old sealant for future generations are we? It isn’t really challenging to reseal the access panels... We need an intonation button... PP thoughts only, not a sealant guy... Best regards, -a- 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squeaky.stow Posted December 11, 2020 Report Share Posted December 11, 2020 When I had my tanks re-sealed by Paul Beck at WeepNoMore he inspected my long range tanks and pronounced the sealant “just like brand new” which saved me a bunch of money. If memory serves, they were about 15 years old at that time and hardly ever had fuel in them. I would say that sealant life is not a concern. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kortopates Posted December 11, 2020 Report Share Posted December 11, 2020 Keep in mind that with long range tanks when you fill the main tanks within a few minutes many gallons will run into the long range tanks and they won’t go dry until you are down to half of main capacity. Thus all the time your main tanks are more than half full the long range tank is wet with fuel.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carusoam Posted December 12, 2020 Report Share Posted December 12, 2020 Ahhh.... The mysteries of extended range tanks... Integral, and fuel cells, each have their own extra details... The M20K has more fuel delivery complexities than any other fuel system in the Mooney fleet... Some wings get two caps... Some fuel necks get flapper valves... The Long bodies have fewer details to follow.... The Ovation has the most simple fuel system to operate... so simple it didn’t even get a fuelP gauge... Best regards, -a- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggie Aviator Posted December 13, 2020 Report Share Posted December 13, 2020 (edited) I have Monroys and do have two fuel caps although the design just allows the fuel to flow into the mains (no valves) as the quantity decreases. I really love the ability to take 100 gallons when necessary but when me and the wife are doing cross country flights I usually just fuel up to 75 gallons for useful loads. My only gripe (and it is a small gripe) is that there isn't really a fuel gauge that I am aware of that allows for the Monroys (I passed on getting the fuel gauges when I installed my CGR-30). PS. Be careful not to over fuel because it makes pushing it back into the hanger a real bear (first hand knowledge) and there is no reason to stress the gear with the additional weight. Edited December 13, 2020 by Aggie Aviator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carusoam Posted December 13, 2020 Report Share Posted December 13, 2020 For unusual tank configurations... Sets of Cies digital fuel gauges can be programmed to be very accurate even if the tanks are unusual shapes... calibration by each gallon added to the system is really amazing... Of course calibrating the tanks in flight attitude will be slightly different than calibrating them with the ground attitude... If the additional tanks didn’t get a second fuel float in them... that can be added later.... (Giant assumption on my part...) The idea that you only need to accurately know when the tanks are Empty.... is so 1990s... PP thoughts only, not a mechanic... Best regards, -a- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aviatoreb Posted December 13, 2020 Report Share Posted December 13, 2020 As many have said - modern sealant and hangar life, I don't think it is critical to keep your tanks full all the time. I do try and fill all my tanks to full now and then for sake of my old-wives tail lore to figure they would keep from being completely dry or whatever it is the would happen. Its not hard to fill them all the way once in a while since a good fraction of my flying is solo anyway. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggie Aviator Posted December 13, 2020 Report Share Posted December 13, 2020 I use the hawk fuel measurement system to measure the depth of the fuel in the mains and auxiliaries and I painstakingly documented what the quantity is based on the depth which give me a pretty accurate quantity on the ground. To calibrate, I drained the tanks and then added back 1/2 gallon at a time and measured after each 1/2 gallon so I get a good reading on the ground. I am still in the process of calibrating the my CGR-30 burn rates but I am slowly dialing it in so actual fuel gauges are not imperative unless i have a transducer malfunction and if this happens the original fuel gauges are still accurate at lower quantities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carusoam Posted December 13, 2020 Report Share Posted December 13, 2020 Aaaaahhhh.... I get it... You have the fancy float sensors that come with the CGR... How is that working for you so far? We have a really good EI guy around here... ask a really good and tough question... I don’t remember anyone giving a pirep on the EI floats yet... Memory’s not my strong suit... Best regards, -a- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggie Aviator Posted December 13, 2020 Report Share Posted December 13, 2020 I chose not to get the floats but I do have the transducer which measures fuel flow when running. When i initiate a flight i program the quantities into the CGR-30 based on what the measurements are when I stab the tanks. Combine that with the fact that I have so much additional fuel capacity with the Monroys and it would be really difficult and foolish to ever run low on fuel. The previous owners of my F installed the Monroys which allowed them to fly from New Jersey to Florida non-stop (or so I have heard). I once had a Cirrus driver accuse me of owning an aircraft with a limited range. Such is the mindset of a Cirrus driver, I had to correct them to let them know that I can stay aloft for 10 hours under the right conditions. I LOVE MY MOONEY! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schllc Posted December 13, 2020 Report Share Posted December 13, 2020 My experience with Monroy tanks was just get used to not really knowing exactly how much fuel you have unless you plan to fill them up the day before you leave and check the next morning. The poh has a supplement telling you how to interpret the wing gauges, and while I understand the methodology, it was still a bit unnerving to me at times. while I don’t want to make it sound like I had no idea how much, it was more of a suspicion that I was inaccurate. I’ve kept a fuel log since I started flying and have always documented what my totalizer said I burned vs what the plane took when I filled up, (until the Monroys, I always kept my tanks topped off). Three of my planes were usually within a gallon of calculated and actual. With the monroys I kind of gave up, and just started deducting 5 gallons from whatever I thought I had for planning purposes. That being said, it’s not a knock on the extended capacity, it’s just a fact you have to get acclimated to, and is a trade off for the additional range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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