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Be careful with the fuel selector...

Never switch tanks after full power checks, I guess we all know that.

I dislike the fuel selector in the Rallye. It’s out of sight down below between left and right seats. Far worse is that you travel through “OFF” on the selector to switch between left and right. I feel a surge of anxiety with each switch, fearing that the ancient handle will break off in my hand while traveling through off.

And you have to switch regularly too. Uneven weight distribution shows up quickly in unwanted bank.

Tököl LHTL

I taxi, run-up, and take-off on same tank, front as specified by manual.
Then change tanks at a height I’ll have time to notice change in engine note and switch back.
I had to do so after maintenance in 2016, returning immediately to land.
Try running your engine with fuel off. You may be surprised at how long it will run.

Maoraigh
EGPE, United Kingdom

I have a sad tale to tell regarding fuel selectors;
A friend of mine, who had previously asked me to fly with him as safety pilot in his Mooney 231, had run a (left) tank dry on a flight to ELLX at FL100 or so, he switched to the RIGHT tank and flew on without concern . There both tanks were filled to the brim and he returned to his homefield, about 50 minutes flying, all on the RIGHT tank.
Two days later he wanted to make a local flight with some family members. He did the normal run-up on the RIGHT tank and when on the runway, about to take-off, he did a last second checklist and switched from the RIGHT tank (about 2/3 full) to the LEFT tank (showing 100% full). There was just enough fuel in the line between the fuel selector to get him airborne and at about 100 ft, the air that was sitting between the outlet of the LEFT tank and the fuel selector had travelled to the engine. The engine stopped abruptly. He tried to get the engine restarted instead of setting up for landing immediately. , I know from experience with this aircraft that it can take 10-20 seconds before the engine catches again. The gear was already up and he made a hard belly landing on the last few remaining meters of the runway, injuring himself and his passengers. He spent about 6 months in revalidation for spine injuries. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair, wing spar bent, cabin cut open by rescue services, luckily there was no fire since it took many minutes to extract the passengers from the aircraft.
Moral; check fuel flow from both positions before the run-up, after run-up don’t change tanks. He also should have drained the fuel strainer underneath the selector while switching to both tanks in sequence. In this case he over-used the checklist.

EBKT

Just had a guy tell me a story about how he flew a 206 on a low level nav, (the C206 doesn’t have a “BOTH” setting) and he switched tanks, almost.

Only after the engine stopped, whilst flying at 1000’ AGL, he noticed the fuel selector wasn’t completely on the right tank…

Indeed Bonanza have a rather sluggish fuel selector not very well visible left down, however I never thought it was difficult and its part of my basic check list in most flight phase changes. My bird is undergoing a tip tank install currently. Fuel management will become a bit more complex, given the fact that that the fuel is electrically pumped from the tip to the main tank. The procedure would be, burn the fuel from the main tank for at least 1.5 Hrs, switch the main tank to the other side, select the opposite tip fuel pump on. Watch the opposite fuel QTY rise again slowly. Switch the main tank again after 1.5 hours select the opposite tip fuel tank for the same.
All fuel floating fuel senders are notoriously unreliable. Running a tank dry confirm if everything is working as supposed…
Of course having a shadin fuel flow helps also..

Last Edited by Vref at 09 Apr 07:17
EBST

What is the make and what is the transducer?

They would need a major rework of the avionics stack, being taller than the previous ones.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Like these ones

EGHS

We have capasitive fuel quantity metering system which is accurate when calibrated. Thats fine and more reliable than float type sensors. But problem is that we use both avgas and mogas and mixture of these. The difference of capasitivity between these two qualities is quit remarkable. So the fuel flow meter is really needeed and the only way to find out how far to continue.

Matti
EFHV

when I choose to run on one tank only, I barely notice the effect of uneven fuel distribution. You can easily trim it away and I never noticed any loss in speed.

If its a low wing plane plane with dihedral you notice it as the outboard fuel burns off. I switch tanks initially by ‘feel’, drawing fuel to keep roll in trim.

If you calculate the air stagnation pressure available from the speed of the plane, there is enough to support substantial difference in fuel levels from one tank to another, assuming independent vents, one fuel cap on backwards etc… but if the tanks share a common vent line it’s hard to understand where a tank pressure difference comes from.

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