Aux. Fuel Transfer System

[arrow203]

The club I belong to recently acquired a 172 with 12.5 gallon tip tanks and an auxiliary transfer system. Aside from the placard stating that the transfer process must be done in level flight with the tank being fed not feeding the engine, there doesn't appear to be much information on how the system works. The STC document itself basically just restates the placard. I'm hoping to use the system tomorrow and had a few questions about its operation. For one, how long does the transfer take - Should I turn the pump on and basically just leave it until the guage for the aux tank shows empty? Also, the placard states that the main tank should be half empty or more before performing a transfer - what are the risks of doing a transfer before that point - would fuel spill out the overflow? Lastly, are there any risks with leaving the pump on for an extended amount of time - is there an auto-shutoff with a float system or anything like that?

Obviously there may be some differences among these systems in the wild, but if anyone could share their experiences with them, that would be great.

Thanks in advance, everyone/anyone...

[SuperchargedRS]

Flint tanks?

http://www.flintaero.com/FAQ.htm

[arrow203]

A quick Google of the STC number SA1614WE indicates that, yes, they are Flint tanks.

[SuperchargedRS]

Then that FAQ should work, interesting system, it would have been nice to have something like that on the 207 I flew.

[Hedley]

Many light aircraft I fly have similar transfer systems, either
gravity fed or via electrical pump or bleed air.

If it's a manually-operated system, all you have to do is make
sure there is room in the tank, and the turn off the transfer
when it's done.

Maule has an identical-sounding setup with tips and submerged
electrical pumps to transfer to the corresponding left/right
main tanks.

The C421B I fly with has 150lb wing locker tanks that you
can select an electrical pump to transfer to the mains. A
light comes on when the wing lock tanker tank is empty
and you turn the pump off.

The L39 has a very nice automatic system which uses
bleed air to automatically transfer fuel from the tips to
the 5 main fuselage tanks when there is room for it.

The Pitts has a manual transfer valve to drain the wing
tank into the main fuselage tank. All you need is room
in the main tank for the fuel, and to remember to select
it off for aerobatics.

IIRC the Taylorcraft BC12D has several wing tanks which
you select valves for, to drain the fuel when the header
tank gets low. Inevitably you forget to turn it off and
it scares the crap out of you when it overflows the
header tank and fuel blows over the windshield.

[cncpc]

The club I belong to recently acquired a 172 with 12.5 gallon tip tanks and an auxiliary transfer system. Aside from the placard stating that the transfer process must be done in level flight with the tank being fed not feeding the engine, there doesn't appear to be much information on how the system works. The STC document itself basically just restates the placard. I'm hoping to use the system tomorrow and had a few questions about its operation. For one, how long does the transfer take - Should I turn the pump on and basically just leave it until the guage for the aux tank shows empty? Also, the placard states that the main tank should be half empty or more before performing a transfer - what are the risks of doing a transfer before that point - would fuel spill out the overflow? Lastly, are there any risks with leaving the pump on for an extended amount of time - is there an auto-shutoff with a float system or anything like that?

Obviously there may be some differences among these systems in the wild, but if anyone could share their experiences with them, that would be great.

Thanks in advance, everyone/anyone...

Are you at Trail?