LM701 STOL N1345L
Building the PegaStol Wings
Fuel Tanks
Before you do a final install of the top skin, you need to install your fuel tank or tanks. In the video from Dedalius it shows the tank being put in the wing after the top skin is riveted in place. I believe that is for demo purposes only. Maybe you can do it that way, but you will be making a simple job very hard.
You must also make sure you install the power supply for the wing tip Nav Lights and Strobes. I mounted mine at the very tip on the nose side of the main spar.
It is imperative that you use grommets at each and every point where the wires or fuel lines pass through the ribs or skins. Do not just lay the lines through the lighting holes, they will eventually chaff and cause a problem you really don't want. An additional caution is to put a dab of silicon on each side of the line or wire where it goes through the grommet.
The fuel tanks are plastic and extremely tough. Depending on your engine configuration you may have to add another fitting. If you use a Fuel Injected engine you will have to have a return line. A Fuel Injected engine pumps unused fuel back to the tank.
This in it's self can be a little bit of a puzzle because the fuel must be returned to the tank from where in came. You will need a six port fuel selector. You can use one made for aircraft from an aircraft supply source for around $450 or use one made for RVs and pickup with auxiliary gas tanks from an auto supply house for less than $60. This is not a problem if you are using a carbureted engine, a return line is not necessary.
My tanks did not come with a return line port as I had requested. So I make my own. I use a piece of aluminum, drilled and tapped it for 1/4" NPT, screwed and glued it to the top of the tank with a neoprene gasket. Looks like this.
On a two tank system, the inboard tanks vents to the outboard tank then to the wingtip. A problem showed it's ugly face here. The vent fitting supplied for the outboard tank was straight. Which meant that it would run directly into the outer slat mechanism. This, of course is unacceptable, I bought a 90 degree fitting and rerouted the outer vent line as shown in the picture below.
There are several ways you can route your fuel lines to the fuselage. I chose to run them through the rear strut to the fuselage. Dedalius supplies fairings for both the strut connection points at the wing and the fuselage, so none of your wiring or lines need to be exposed. In order to do this I plugged the inner fuel supply line and split the balance line between the two tanks. I also put a shut off valve to the outer tank. Here's a picture.
I didn't mention anything about the sending unit. I use a float type and installed it in the inboard tank. I covered it with neoprene, because it seemed to close to the top skin and I didn't want a problem. As you can see in the above picture, I leaked tested with gasoline before closing it up. Even though this stinks, I feel that it is most necessary.
Here's a picture of the sending unit cover.
A couple more suggestions. Put the tanks as far forward as you can. Shim the rear up and the side away from the fuel feed to make it feed better. The fuel feed fitting openings are about 1" off the bottom, so you would always have about a gallon of gas in the tank, I didn't like that.
Drilling your Curtis drain holes is a trick, which I screw up on, so I made little plates. Sorry no picture.
Next use crazy foam or liquid foam to put in the corners to secure your tanks.
Time to build the lids and put the Top Skin.
Go HOME and select more pages to look at.
Warning!!!
It is very easy to accidentally drill a hole in top of the tanks. It is advisable that all holes be drilled before the tanks are finally installed.
If you need to repair your tank, I found two kits which work well. One from Lowe's is called Magnum Marine/Plastic Fiberglass Repair. The other is an Epoxy repair kit from a RV supply house. I used both, first the Magnum filler to fill the holes then the epoxy for an overall cover of the area.
