Fuel Line Replacement

[SkyrangerRich]

Hi,

Got a couple of free days over the holidays and my fuel lines are due replacement. 

Not a job I’ve done before. Any tips? Can the fuel sight tubes be done with the wings installed?

Not looking forward to the lines behind the panel. 

Thanks,

Rich

[Roger Lee]

The wings need to come out to replace the fuel sight tubes. Just do the wing inspection and log it and you'll be good for a couple more years. The fuel hose behind the instrument panel is actually fairly easy. The other fuel hoses in the engine compartment are fairly easy too.

Give me a call and I can explain it all and the way to do it.

[sandpiper]

Years ago I managed to do the fuel sight tubes without removing the wings. 

It's easier and faster to just pull the wings.

[SkyrangerRich]

Hi. Thanks as always for the replies. 
 

I managed to do one side today with the wing on. It was a pain. 
 

Will recruit some hangar mates to help me pull the wing on the other side!

[Roger Lee]

You can do it with one person, but you'll need either two six foot ladders or some other wing support. Mates work too. LOL

[Anticept]

Don't even honestly have to pull the wings that far. Just enough to slip the old hose off and new one on.

I strongly advise putting springs in them to keep the hose from collapsing. They do an awfully hard turn and I keep finding kinked hoses. Or shell out for formed hoses.

[Jim Meade]

Where do you find formed hoses?  I tried wrapping hoses around a tin can and putting them in hot water for a long time to see if they'd take a set.  Didn't seem to work for me.

[Anticept]

Have to look around and ask. You're probably going to need an MRA. And I doubt it's going to be cheap.

Mainly that was a tongue in cheek remark. Just use a spring.

[Roger Lee]

What do you need formed hoses for? Not the sight tube. The rubber hose in the SW can be turned in position so it doesn't kink. The 3/8" hose in the LS can have and many do a spring to keep it from over bending. I have found springs in them and I have added spring that didn't.

[Tom Baker]

I have never seen a spring in the fuel supply hose in the wing root on a CTSW. They are less likely to kink, but having the length right is important. To much hose for the space and they will kink. For the LS I have seen both solid tubes and springs for the tight radius 90° bend they have to make. The quality of the hose is also important in regards to kinking. For the sight tubes I have found that the length is critical. I have a table in my shop with a notch caved in it to measure the length for cutting the sight tube. I also pre form around a coil of I made from 1/4" aluminum tube. Whenever I install a set I cut the next set and slide it on my coil. By doing this I have less problems with the sight tube kinking.

[Anticept]

Yet again I make the mistake of assuming an LS in the thread.

[Tom Baker]

People tend to comment on what they are familiar with. The issue with the CT's are there are so many different variations. I'm lucky that I have worked on a lot of the different variations.

[Mike Koerner]

Hey folks,

Though we all share an interest in CT aircraft, that encompasses a range of similar yet distinct models. Knowing what model you're asking about would make it easier for the generous and knowledgeable individuals on this forum to help… and it would make it easier for others reading these posts, even those reading them 10 years from now, to know whether the comments apply to their model or not.

We're not always going to remember to include our aircraft model in our posts, but this forum allows us to add a signature line to the bottom of all our posts automatically, so we don't have to remember: click on the down arrow next to your name at the top right of the page, select “Account Settings”, click “Signature” on the bottom of the column on the left, then type your aircraft model into the "Signature" box and press "Save".

Thanks,

 

[Anticept]

Signatures don't show on mobile.

[Tom Baker]

9 hours ago, Mike Koerner said:

Hey folks,

Though we all share an interest in CT aircraft, that encompasses a range of similar yet distinct models. Knowing what model you're asking about would make it easier for the generous and knowledgeable individuals on this forum to help… and it would make it easier for others reading these posts, even those reading them 10 years from now, to know whether the comments apply to their model or not.

We're not always going to remember to include our aircraft model in our posts, but this forum allows us to add a signature line to the bottom of all our posts automatically, so we don't have to remember: click on the down arrow next to your name at the top right of the page, select “Account Settings”, click “Signature” on the bottom of the column on the left, then type your aircraft model into the "Signature" box and press "Save".

Thanks,

 

Even having your model is not enough. I remember Andy and Ed describing how to do landings in the CTSW. One was trimming full nose up, and the other wasn't trimming. The issue one had springs in the trim system, and the other did not. I remember when I picked up my first customer airplane in Tulsa. The Toms were telling me about how they would call the factory about an issue or request on the airplane, and the next batch of airplanes would incorporate the changes. While they all have similarities, they are all basically hand made and different.

[FlyingMonkey]

1 minute ago, Tom Baker said:

Even having your model is not enough. I remember Andy and Ed describing how to do landings in the CTSW. One was trimming full nose up, and the other wasn't trimming. The issue one had springs in the trim system, and the other did not.

That was totally true!  We went around quite a bit before we figured out the difference between our airplanes.  I have since removed the extra pitch spring on my airplane and it requires *far* less trim movement when changing speed & configuration.