SEATS & FUEL SYSTEM

DETAILS, MORE DETAILS

Now that I had my shiny new seats, how to install them ??  It turned out to be easier than I expected.  Ace Hardware & Air Craft Supply sold me some 3/4 x 1/8" aluminum angle, and I got to cutting.  2 rails rivetted to the frame made a base, uprights gave height, and with careful measuring, clamping, and drilling, the rails on the underside of the seat meshed perfectly with the lower ones.  I used washers on the rivets that came thru the fiberglass seat shells, to prevent pull thru.  As I mentioned on a previous page, it took dozens of climbs in & out, along with shimming and blocking the seats to different angles and heights, till they felt "right."  I was concerned about the non-aircraft grade aluminum mountings being strong enuf, but 3 years of climbing in & out while working on the doors, etc., has proven them to be sufficiently strong and secure.  No looseness or bending yet.  I had hoped to make them tilt forward, to make storage room underneath, but there isn't enuf swing room.  On the front of the extension rails on the seats, is a 3/16" hole for the mounting pins.  Secure, but easy to pull, and remove the seat.

Seat belts are out of a Saab car, and the push button side is attached by 3/16" stainless steel brackets.  Some have expressed concern about the single chest strap, so I called the Highway Patrol, and talked to the people there at some length one night.  None of them could recall ever hearing about anyone coming out from under a standard car seat belt - as long as it was fastened to begin with.  Also, if I did come out from under in a crash, it's too far to the panel to worry about hitting it, without being torn in 1/2, which would end the problem anyway.  One guy told me he wouldn't ride in an airplane that didn't have at least a 4 point harness.  Fine, he doesn't have to ride with me.  I'm satisfied with the strength and security of the system.

The 16 gal fuel tank came from Kolb solidly bolted to the framework.  Since I've seen aluminum tanks crack in other applications, I didn't like this.  So........got some gum rubber sheet from McMaster Carr, and put cushions on the mounting points.  I also drilled the mounting bolt holes out, found some heavy ( I think 1/2" ) surgical tubing at a drug store.  It had to have a center hole big enuf to slide snugly onto a 3/16" bolt.  Put a length of the tubing onto the mounting bolts with a washer on each end, and it made an arrangement sorta like a flip top Thermos plug.  As I tightened up the bolts, the rubber tubing swelled, and now the whole tank can be moved about 1/2" with hard tugging, yet CANNOT be moved any more than that.  If that crash ever does happen, I don't want that tank all over me.

I lost the engine in my Turbo Saab  from a fouled injector, and I wanted to be very sure the same wouldn't happen here.  The fuel comes thru a finger strainer inside the tank on each side, then thru a fuel shut off valve, a pre-filter, the rotary high pressure pumps, and then thru an after filter.  Remember, this thing will be running a full electronic fuel injection system, as well as crank fired ignition.  Only 1 pump will be used at a time, and there are anti-reverse valves on each side to prevent back flow.  Below the tank outlet on each side is a Tee, with one side going to the pumps, the other dropping straight down to a Cessna style fuel sampling drain, that is installed to stick out of the fabric whenever that is finished.  This is to make it easy to sample the fuel on pre-flight, and should also act as a catch basin for anything that comes from the tank during flight.  Unlikely, but...............! ! !   When the fuel is returned from the engine, it comes to another Tee on the vent of the tank.  One side of the Tee goes to the small tank vent.

The small tank vent leads overboard after making an anti-siphon loop upwards, the other side of the Tee goes to the "sight gauge" between the seats, and the center of the Tee takes the return from the fuel pressure regulator.  To reduce any chance of foaming or splashing out the vent, I reamed out the base of the fuel return fitting, and silver soldered a 6" piece of 1/4" copper tubing into it.  This extends down into the tank, and should keep the returning fuel from choking up in the Tee.

Since Vamoose will be fully enclosed, I built an outside fuel filler, to keep the fumes out of the cockpit area.  The cap & neck are from a Titan Tornado, and take a 1 1/2" hose.  The aluminum plate will be covered with fabric.  Since I'll be fueling from outside, I also needed a filler vent, to prevent splashing, and "up-chucking" when filling.  A bad experience with a boat taught me this.  A local muffler shop made an adapter & welded it on the tank neck, and then I had trouble making the tight bend from the filler to the tank, without collapsing the heavy 1 1/2" hose.

To cure this, I cut a piece of chromed brass sink drain to fit, welded an ell into the bend, welded a fitting onto the gas tank, and connected the whole mess up.  Painted the fittings to make 'em pretty.

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