OK, a good friend of mine (Jim Davis) has a Cherokee 235, with the original polyester tanks. He had an autogas STC, and unfortunately put in autogas that had alcohol. It dissolved the material in the tanks. No Polyester is not something anyone should put in an aircraft if there is any chance of contact with alcohol, whether intentionally or by mistake, as my friend did. While epoxy is about twice the cost of polyester, anyone who did not use the best and safest material for their fuel tanks is using a false economic argument. From my 38 +years experience with aircraft, it is just not worth it to go cheap.
Bill Zorc Vero Beach,FL RV-8 N2046F KR-2 N7040E A&P/ATP/CFII & former Piper employee In a message dated 10/02/09 17:43:13 Eastern Daylight Time, jscott.pi...@juno.com writes: On Fri, 2 Oct 2009 17:46:07 +1000 "Phillip Matheson" <phillipmathe...@bigpond.com> writes: > Fred, > > Polyester should work just fine. That's what Piper used to build > the tip > tanks on the Cherokee 235 and Cherokee 6. Polyester has it's > difficulties > in certain applications, but it works quite well for a fuel tank. > > ------------------------------------------------------ > > DO NOT USE Polyester!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Do you REALLY want to take the > chance????? > > DO a test yourself and let us know your results!!!!!!!!! > put some polyester in some avgas and ULP. > > I would only USE Vinyl Ester. ( not Epoxy) unless the manufacture says it's > OK. not someone else. > > Too many people have had problems with epoxy, I have seen what > leaking tanks > on a Lancair does.. NOT good. > > > Phil Matheson ----------------------- Wow! That's a lot of exclaimation points and question marks. The question posed seemed to be simple enough. "Can anyone tell me if Polyester will work on a fuel tank application? " I'll stand by my answer. Yes it will, and there are tens of thousands of Cherokees flying around with Polyester tip tanks as flying proof. Many have been in service since long before Ken and Stu dreamed up the KR aircraft. Apparently some of you have testing data that you should share with Piper and the FAA that demonstrates otherwise? Later, a second question was posed about the tolerance of Polyester tanks to Alcohol fuels. My answer was that I don't know. Piper didn't test alcohol in their tanks as Alcohol contaminated fuels are not recommended (or allowed) by either Piper or the FAA. Consequently, I have no knowledge of specific long term testing data. I've only heard third and fourth hand anecdotal information on the internet, which I don't consider to be particularly reliable data. Would I really want to take the same chances with my tanks as a Piper Cherokee? Simple answer. "Yes." However, I would not use alcohol contaminated fuels in my aircraft, whether the tanks were up to it or not. The original post didn't ask for a recommendation, which is why I didn't make one. Jeff Scott Los Alamos, NM N1213W ____________________________________________________________ Medical Billing Careers Click here for a Medical Billing Career. Get free info & Apply Today! http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/c?cp=6NEhIIgSYK9LF6eNESkkRwAAJ1A9mk8a0luj1TJO2sh3zRLgAAQAAAAFAAAAAHjNsD4AAAMlAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABNldAAAAAA= _______________________________________ Search the KRnet Archives at http://www.maddyhome.com/krsrch/index.jsp to UNsubscribe from KRnet, send a message to krnet-le...@mylist.net please see other KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html
