I've now got around 27 hours on my 4-place machine, and thoroughly enjoying it. Already we've made quite a few small changes in many areas. I'm still chasing down a few issues one of which is inconsistent fuel readings.
After some flights, I appear to have burnt more fuel from the left tank than the right. Other flights burn equal amounts, so I suspect it's more my own stick and rudder skills, and to a small degree, changes in the rudder rigging, springs etc. I'm continuing to refine this. You may have seen my posts relating to yaw etc, so there is definitely a possibility of imbalance. But I've been videoing the screens quite alot on recent flights and the ball is usually centered, so I'm no longer thinking that an out of balance scenario can explain everything.
I'm also checking that the fuel cap vents are facing forward as evening as is possible on each flight.
Today I leveled the wings in the hangar. This isn't as straightforward as I would have thought and due to quite a large amount of movement in the suspension the wings can sit at a range of angles quite happily. Once I had the wings level (and supported in that position), I selected BOTH on the fuel selector and left it for an hour. The fuel found its own happy level, and I became aware of a small error in the individual tank calibration. Thinking back, I think I had a wing low when I did the calibration without realizing it. So now I think what is happening is that when I check the sight gauges, it indicates an imbalance when one doesn't necessarily exist. I've now mostly corrected for this.
However, there is also an actual imbalance on occasion too, I know this because when filling the tanks I've had to pour up to 25 liters more into one tank than the other. (We don't use gallons down here, they don't work properly below the equator).
I'm posting this because some of you may have had similar experiences and may already have a solution or some helpful ideas. In the meantime I'm not keeping significantly higher reserves.
After some flights, I appear to have burnt more fuel from the left tank than the right. Other flights burn equal amounts, so I suspect it's more my own stick and rudder skills, and to a small degree, changes in the rudder rigging, springs etc. I'm continuing to refine this. You may have seen my posts relating to yaw etc, so there is definitely a possibility of imbalance. But I've been videoing the screens quite alot on recent flights and the ball is usually centered, so I'm no longer thinking that an out of balance scenario can explain everything.
I'm also checking that the fuel cap vents are facing forward as evening as is possible on each flight.
Today I leveled the wings in the hangar. This isn't as straightforward as I would have thought and due to quite a large amount of movement in the suspension the wings can sit at a range of angles quite happily. Once I had the wings level (and supported in that position), I selected BOTH on the fuel selector and left it for an hour. The fuel found its own happy level, and I became aware of a small error in the individual tank calibration. Thinking back, I think I had a wing low when I did the calibration without realizing it. So now I think what is happening is that when I check the sight gauges, it indicates an imbalance when one doesn't necessarily exist. I've now mostly corrected for this.
However, there is also an actual imbalance on occasion too, I know this because when filling the tanks I've had to pour up to 25 liters more into one tank than the other. (We don't use gallons down here, they don't work properly below the equator).
I'm posting this because some of you may have had similar experiences and may already have a solution or some helpful ideas. In the meantime I'm not keeping significantly higher reserves.
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