Message-ID: <009901beec11$a21d9740$2a00a8c0@fat-albert>
From: "Pat Weston" <peweston@teleport.com>
To: "Skip Long" <skiplong@videocomm.com>,
	"Lancair Builders Mail List" <lancair.list@olsusa.com>
Subject: Re: Fuel tank sealer
Date: Sat, 21 Aug 1999 13:05:17 -0700
Mime-Version: 1.0

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All,

Not all pin holes are what they seem. I used a 200W halogen lamp focused on
the outside surface of the wing, turned all other lights off, waited about 5
or so minutes for my eyes to adjust, lo and behold a veritable constellation
of stars appeared before me, no comets thankfully. This was after the second
coat. I then dabbed at the offending celestial bodies with a paintbrush
soaked with the sealer. What I did notice, however, is that the edges of the
2 BID tapes that were attached to the ribs/spars and wing skin had more than
their fair share of planets and stars. This was due to the fact that the
several wayward fibers of the 2 BID  poked through the sealer and conducted
light (like fiber optic conductors, which they really are). No amount of
dabbing got rid of all of those stars, It seemed that the sealer flowed off
the peaks created by these points. I left them as I figured glass is
impervious to avgas.

I've tested both wing tanks using both the air and balloon method (found a
horrendous leak over the main spar, which is apparently quite common) and
the water filled tank test when the wings were attached to the fuselage,
this enabled me to ensure none of the dry areas got wet, wash out the tanks
and measure their capacity.  Results of the measurement of my extended range
ES tanks below...

Left wing fuel tank capacity

49.25 US gal usable
0.5 US gal unusable (Tank only)
====================
49.75 US gal total left wing

Right wing fuel capacity

49.8 US gal usable
0.3 US gal unusable (Tank only)
==================
50.2 US gal total Right wing

100 US gal total
99 US gal total usable.

Keep on sanding.

Pat Weston
"Only three short years to go!"
http://www.teleport.com/~peweston


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