Razorback Flyer Posted November 12, 2017 Report Share Posted November 12, 2017 My plane pulls more fuel from left wing tank than right wing tank. Yesterday on 2.4 hour flight both tanks full 6 gal from left tank. 1/2 gal from right tank. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Cesnalis Posted November 12, 2017 Report Share Posted November 12, 2017 Your slip/skid ball is a little off. You can't see your nose its easy to be fooled. Check your ball against your sight tube in flight, with rudder in put find the middle between the fuel going up and down and use that for an adjustment for a centered ball. Manage your fuel in flight with rudder trim, fuel follows the ball, you can correct the burn by adjusting the ball position a slight amount. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WmInce Posted November 12, 2017 Report Share Posted November 12, 2017 8 hours ago, Ed Cesnalis said: Manage your fuel in flight with rudder trim, fuel follows the ball, you can correct the burn by adjusting the ball position a slight amount. You've been saying that for years and I find it is still one of the best pieces of advice a new CT owner can scour from this site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredG Posted November 12, 2017 Report Share Posted November 12, 2017 I agree with Ed, fuel may be transferring from the wing that is slightly high in straight and level flight to the wing that is slightly low in straight and level flight. This can happen if the slip-skid ball is not perfectly rigged and it makes sense to check for this problem (which results in non-level wings when the ball is centered). I had this problem with my CTsw and the first step my mechanic took was to ensure that the ball was properly rigged (i.e., that the ball was centered when the wings were level). This was done on the ground and not in the air. My ball was not rigged correctly and after it was fixed I had equal fuel levels in the tanks at the end of long flights. There are dozens of posts on this issue on CTFlier that can be found with a search of the forum. There are other possibilities, e.g., a kink in a fuel line, a clogged strainer on the pick-up in a wing tank, poor tank venting, etc. Still, I suspect that many would agree that checking the rig of the ball is a smart start. I am not a mechanic and my comments are not intended to be maintenance recommendations or guidance. They re provided only for discussion purposes, only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Cesnalis Posted November 12, 2017 Report Share Posted November 12, 2017 I find very little downside to letting one tank go dry while the other still has an hour left. It is simpler to worry about flying with my nose in the wind then to worry about even fuel usage as well. 90+% of the time I fill only one wing with gas because its easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runtoeat Posted November 12, 2017 Report Share Posted November 12, 2017 Ed, I don't see anyone taking the bait on your last statement yet.........................maybe most are still cogitating on it, like me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Cesnalis Posted November 12, 2017 Report Share Posted November 12, 2017 1 hour ago, Runtoeat said: Ed, I don't see anyone taking the bait on your last statement yet.........................maybe most are still cogitating on it, like me. Dick, Its not bait so much as evolution. I've landed with an empty wing more times than I can count so I know it is reasonable to use left, right or both just like my Cessna. I'm routinely climbing to 13,000' and above so keeping it light or minimum fuel helps. I have unported my remaining wing when maneuvering near steep terrain at 13,000 and it was exhilarating. In a heartbeat I was knife-edged and descending 2,000 fpm to make the terrain a non-issue while I sorted it out. It just occurred to me that we have this expectation of both sides dropping in unison from top to bottom but that's not how the design works. Both sides have a minimum flow they are not tuned to match. I started feeling silly flying around just a bit crooked because I expect matching flow rates and I was making sure I was getting matching flow rates. It doesn't take much 'lee side chop' to make my sight tubes un-readable and my fuel unmanageable anyway. Under 2 hours of fuel I'm clueless if there's both chop and low light and just resort to basic math like I used to do with other models. I was recently unable to confirm any fuel at all so I just flew with my nose in the wind and when I landed all the fuel was there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
procharger Posted November 14, 2017 Report Share Posted November 14, 2017 Where do I send flowers. I just read another article in FLYING mag. about this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Cesnalis Posted November 14, 2017 Report Share Posted November 14, 2017 16 minutes ago, procharger said: Where do I send flowers. I just read another article in FLYING mag. about this? what did it say? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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