AGLyme Posted December 18, 2018 Report Share Posted December 18, 2018 Thank you Ed and RL... appreciate the advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tip Posted December 18, 2018 Report Share Posted December 18, 2018 Your plane has a fuel selector valve, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGLyme Posted December 19, 2018 Report Share Posted December 19, 2018 Yes, L, R and Both... the valve is in the "Both" position. I suppose I can level the tanks... by changing the tanks... I am spending a lot of time just getting to know the plane and learning the Dynon in my spare time. Flying tomorrow weather permitting. Thanks Tip, Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Downs Posted December 19, 2018 Report Share Posted December 19, 2018 Still confused. I know the fuel system works but it is scary for the students when one tank is empty. Yesterday I drained all of the fuel out of the plane. Refilled the left tank and the fuel did not flow into the right tank. I raised the left wing about 6 inches and the fuel flowed. I then fill both tanks to 16 gallons each. The plane then flew for a while and when it came in there was 15.5 in the left tank and 3 in the right tank. Can anyone explain this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibjet Posted December 19, 2018 Report Share Posted December 19, 2018 Just saw this subject and thought I would add my 2 cents, ha ha. I have had the same experience with my 2006 CTSW. I only have an On/Off fuel selector which I leave on 99.9% of the time. Anyway, mine always drains the right tank way more than the left. I really freaked out when I was doing my annual this past year and I could not get good flow out of the left wing. I finally removed the gascolator bowl and found that I had plenty of flow (the gascolator drain port is very restrictive, thought about it and decided I didn't want it to flow really fast out of there, ha ha). One good aspect: I fuel just the right tank, simplifies my fuel logistics, ha ha. I don't have a solution, just living with it. KEEP MORE RESERVE FUEL, ha ha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMonkey Posted December 19, 2018 Report Share Posted December 19, 2018 3 hours ago, Al Downs said: Still confused. I know the fuel system works but it is scary for the students when one tank is empty. Yesterday I drained all of the fuel out of the plane. Refilled the left tank and the fuel did not flow into the right tank. I raised the left wing about 6 inches and the fuel flowed. I then fill both tanks to 16 gallons each. The plane then flew for a while and when it came in there was 15.5 in the left tank and 3 in the right tank. Can anyone explain this? The tanks are flat on the bottoms, and you won't get a lot of flow unless you raise a wing, as you found. The reason fuel flows more from one wing is flying out of coordination, even slightly. The fix is to monitor fuel use and fly out of coordination slightly with the full wing high to level out the fuel tanks. Honestly nobody should fly out 13+ gallons of fuel without checking the sight tubes and correcting fuel flow as necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted December 19, 2018 Report Share Posted December 19, 2018 3 hours ago, Al Downs said: Still confused. I know the fuel system works but it is scary for the students when one tank is empty. Yesterday I drained all of the fuel out of the plane. Refilled the left tank and the fuel did not flow into the right tank. I raised the left wing about 6 inches and the fuel flowed. I then fill both tanks to 16 gallons each. The plane then flew for a while and when it came in there was 15.5 in the left tank and 3 in the right tank. Can anyone explain this? You're out of trim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Baker Posted December 19, 2018 Report Share Posted December 19, 2018 3 hours ago, Al Downs said: Still confused. I know the fuel system works but it is scary for the students when one tank is empty. Yesterday I drained all of the fuel out of the plane. Refilled the left tank and the fuel did not flow into the right tank. I raised the left wing about 6 inches and the fuel flowed. I then fill both tanks to 16 gallons each. The plane then flew for a while and when it came in there was 15.5 in the left tank and 3 in the right tank. Can anyone explain this? When I had my CT it would do the same when students were flying it, but if I took it on a trip the fuel stayed even. It requires attention by the pilot to keep it even and it isn't that hard, but if you are just out flying around and not paying attention uneven flow is what you get. Also think of the fuel flow like electricity. It is going to take the path of least resistance. It only takes the airplane being flown a little crooked to make one side have less resistance compared to the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdarza Posted December 19, 2018 Report Share Posted December 19, 2018 Yup same happens on my 2006 CTSW. I pay a lot of attention to flying with the ball centered and this minimizes the uneven fuel. And when I park anywhere with almost full fuel, I do my best to estimate the wings being level - otherwise if not level, fuel pours out the filler gas cap that is lower. (Which is clear indication fuel is being transferred from the other, higher, tank) And as mentioned on this forum before, when in flight and if you are low on fuel on one side, fly out of trim to transfer fuel to the other side. Fuel follows the ball. Note this process can take 15 to 30 mins to have any considerable effect. It doesn't happen in just a few minutes. (I only mention this because thats what I thought before lol). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGLyme Posted December 20, 2018 Report Share Posted December 20, 2018 Someone used the Rod Serling joke already (Twighlight Zone)... so, I sticked both tanks today... both read 10.2 gallons... I give up. I worked on cleaning the plane today and the gas was sloshing around for a while, perhaps that had something to do with it? Anyway, I give up... PS: Love the battery charger FD provided with the plane. Very easy to use, informative and even I know how to use it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MileHighCTLS Posted January 22, 2019 Report Share Posted January 22, 2019 I have a 2011 CTLS (129 hours). I always have more fuel in Pilot's side (left) wing tank, by about 6 gallons. They never equalize while sitting in the hangar. BTW, while on the topic of fuel, how many fuel filters do we have? And where are they located? The manuals are not clear (for me). I found one in-line filter between the fuel shut-off valve and the firewall (behind lower switch panel). As always, I appreciate any insights! Tom P. S. - Love this site. Well informed owners! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted January 22, 2019 Report Share Posted January 22, 2019 You have one in each wing that we usually don't mess with unless there is a fuel flow issue. One in the instrument panel we do check, the gascolator that gets checked every annual, one in the fuel pump that many don't know exist. You're filtered better than most planes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac Bowden Posted January 22, 2019 Report Share Posted January 22, 2019 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c1117ede5274a0ad4ea6615/Flight_Design_CTSW_G-KEVK_01-19.pdf Worth reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Cesnalis Posted January 22, 2019 Report Share Posted January 22, 2019 34 minutes ago, Mac Bowden said: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c1117ede5274a0ad4ea6615/Flight_Design_CTSW_G-KEVK_01-19.pdf Worth reading. Quote the two occupants, both qualified pilots on the aircraft type With two qualified pilots aboard and a known low fuel condition someone needed to be referencing the sight tubes long before starvation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug G. Posted February 11, 2019 Report Share Posted February 11, 2019 Aren’t there also (on the CTLS anyway) course filters in each wing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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