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This has been kicked around by Lancair, Glasair and other builder groups
with the usual concerns due to the potential for a disaster at the fuel
pumps.  From all I have read over the years I can recall only a Glasair
that
had a fire, probably due to static and in that instance it was a defueling
not a fueling.  I have not heard of any other instance where a fueling fire
occurred in a composite airplane.

Still the "potential" had me concerned so I was relieved to read an article
in Sport Aviation a couple of years ago by the guys at the CAFE Foundation.
They did some testing that convinced me to ground the fuel filler necks to
my vent lines.  The vent line ends up near the filler neck so I just
riveted
a strip of the line to the neck.  Then clamp a piece of braid from a coax
cable to the external vent line to a ground point about 12" away.  This can
be done inside the wing tip.

Their recommendation was to ground the fuel filler neck to the fuel truck.
Then wipe the surface of the wing a foot or so from the gas cap with a wet
rag before removing the cap which will dissipate most of the surface
charge.  Ground the fuel nozzle to the filler neck by touching it before
removing the fuel cap and rest the nozzle on the grounded filler neck while
refueling.  

Seems reasonable to me and not all that much trouble.    Steve Colwell

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Please send your photos and drawings to marvkaye@olsusa.com.
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