Too foggy to go flying today. In fact it's been generally like this for the past three weeks although there was a big enough hole
right over the field last weekend to allow me to get some touch and goes in
My intent was to burn up as much fuel as I dare so I could replace this leaky fuel drain petcock
I got it down to just under 1/4 tank so there should be about 5 to 8 gallons in there to drain
I've only got one 5 gallon can so I'll have to pour it somewhere - how about into the tank of my Blazer
Do you think 100LL will mess up my engine?
While the fuel is draining I have a couple of other tasks to attend to inside the cabin
First off I need to remove the kick panels so I can pull up the floorboards
The reason is that the little pushbutton on the flap handle went shooting off a couple of weeks ago
and we never did find the spring - it's gotta be down there somewhere!
Another thing we've been advised to check is possible interference between the aileron cable and fuel line
Looks like we're okay there but in removing the kick panel I stupidly rotated the fuel selector to the "BOTH" position
I'm setting myself up for trouble already
Jeeze, that stuff is still pouring out. I've already dumped two full cans into the Blazer
I didn't think there was THAT much gas left in that tank!
It finally quits at around 13 gallons or so
I'm still oblivious as to what I've done at this point....
Anyway, I found that stinkin' flap handle spring - way down in the belly
about as far down as it could have possibly gotten
Okay, well since this is a taildragger I guess it could have posasibly made it all the way back there
It was probably still "enroute" when I caught it here
There it is - we had zero luck trying to find one of these at the local Ace Hardware
had to have one Fed-Ex'd from Maule in Moultrie
So now we've got a spare
Got that crappy fuel stain cleaned up and the old petcock removed
Doesn't look like any damage was done
Here's what the drains look like from under the seat
and where it mounts inside to go through the belly
I just loves tearing new stuff apart
Here they are - the guts exposed
See where that trailing edge is?
No wonder I keep banging my head into it
Here's the source of your rocking commander's seat Colin
I don't think there's much that can be done about it
don't know why the pilot's side does it more that the passenger's but it's not an issue of anything coming loose
you'll just have to live with it - doesn't bother me any
left over computer speakers with the minidisc made a half way decent entertainment center
Mission accomplished
she's in good hands
Oh, but I almost forgot about the drained fuel issue
I pulled her out and fired her up to taxi over to the pumps and after about 40 seconds she quit on me
- from complete and utter fuel starvation -
that's right - I had drained BOTH tanks because (like a moron) I had the fuel selector on BOTH
had to drive over with the five gallon can and get some taxi fuel
got her filled up and no more pesky, drippy fuel leak
YEEEHAW
And wouldn't you know it - just as the sun is about to go down, the fog clears up
sheesh!