I agree, it's a tough call on the Facet pump with the sump tank. But
then if you eliminated the sump tank....... : )
Your Andair valve is a good (but pricey) solution. And I
see the fuel transfer requirement as no more onerous than the requirement
to switch tanks. This is a cherries & nectarines issue. Both
taste great.
I'll have to think about that "auto leveling" a bit but at first blush, I'm
not sure it would work in all situations. Have you tried it?
Thanks for the info, Tracy. My only concern is
this....if the Facet pump was not involved, might it be better to have it
back in the system so that if I have a future problem, I could turn
the Facet pump on to pressurize the sump tank with fresh fuel? Ed seems
to be comfortable with this, and has had to use it.
Of course, on the other
hand, if the Facet even partially contributed to the vapor lock
issue, I don't want it in my system. I need to talk to Herb Sanders one
more time, as he was concerned that because the Facet will not allow back
flow, it might be a major contributor to the vapor lock issue. I'm feeling
like my system is fairly simple as it now stands. Gravity feed, only the two
required EFI pumps, a vented sump tank, and a simple Andair fuel selector
valve. I do not need to transfer fuel from one
tank to another, or anything like that. I can also select "both" on the fuel
selector, and balance fuel consumption automatically, or just switch to left
or right tank if needed. Paul Conner
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2005 1:12
PM
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: Vapor
Lock
Paul, one last thought on the vapor lock thing. Very glad
you have found that it was the problem. There is nothing worse than
not knowing.
It is quite possible that changing EITHER of the two variables (in-line
Facet or vent on the header/sump tank) will make the system work. Just
because you remove one and it works does not mean you have found
the root cause. Earlier I used the "strikes" analogy, and we don't
know how many of these it takes to make an "out".
From your background I'm sure you know that it is frequently a
combination of things that can cause a failure. Removing one of them
may 'fix' the problem now but add in other variables like fuel vapor
pressure, altitude, etc, and the problem could come
back. The goal is to make the system as tolerant of all
factors as possible. Happily, this frequently means making it simple
too!
One other thought on simplicity. I have never landed without
power (in my rotary powered plane) but I have come close several times in
the early days. The only thing that prevented it was having a fairly
simple system and knowing it very well. This helped diagnose the
problem and fix or compensate for it before running out of altitude and
ideas.
Tracy
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