I do like the assurance of continued fuel flow ones gets from the cowl tank, but I stay concerned about that 6 gallons above my knees. An outfit called Crest Foam Industries manufactures a fuel cell open cell foam that only reduces fuel tank volume by a few percent...the 6 gallon cowl tank might "only" hold 5.7 gallons with this product installed. Installation would require opening the tanks and trimming the material into place. Ideally, wouldn't it be great if Univair (or someone else) could get replacement tanks (yeah, Ed...Kevlar would be terrific!) certified with this material already installed? Apparently it virtually eliminates conflagration from fuel tanks upon rupture, such as might occur in a crash. The stuff would not do much about stopping a tank leak, though..another advantage of composite tanks is single piece, no seam construction, no corrosion, no? Crest Foam systems are already widely used in a lot of specialty aircraft and homebuilts/kitplanes. The stuff is really cheap...less than $100 to do an Ercoupe's three tanks by my calculation. HOWEVER...lots of cost involved in removal, rework, replacement of the tanks...but the increase in safety and crashworthiness would be worth a lot. FAA certification procedures likely makes this impossible unless taken on by Univair or similar... Too bad.
John Olav Johnsen Ercoupe 415-E N94783 s/n 4894 Albuquerque, New Mexico -----Original Message----- From: Ed Burkhead <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Coupe-list <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Thursday, December 02, 1999 6:10 AM Subject: Fuel system safety >I agree with BOTH the group who dislike the safety risk of the three >tank system and with those who dislike the safety risk of the 30 gallon >tank system. > >Admittedly, our very old aluminum tanks could catastrophically fail >dumping a lot of fuel in our laps so I'd want something to reinforce the >tank. > >WHAT I WANT: A replacement header tank made of nearly indestructible >materials. Kevlar? Bladder inside aluminum? I'd give up a gallon of >capacity for increased strength. > >Remember the foil system they used to advertise at Oshkosh. They would >shoot tracer bullets through the tanks and get only a small flame as >fuel slowly leaked from the hole -- no massive leak or explosion. Is >this stuff still available? > >I would like to stay with the no-fuel-mismanagement (short of running >out) fuel system, but I think there's room for improvement. > >This would be a low volume sales item. It's not a casual or cheap thing >to pull out that tank, is it? > >-- >Ed Burkhead >Peoria, Ill. >Ercoupe N3802H, 415-D
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