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So I just finished a little aerobatic training in the Great Lakes and that got me to thinking about inverted fuel and oil for my Charger. Flying upside down is kind of fun, and even though the Charger doesn’t have symmetrical airfoils I think it will fly upside down.
That brings me to my question: what are the pros and cons of various inverted systems?
For oil, I’m thinking about the Raven system because it’s a bit more compact and it costs less. But maybe the Christen is better?
For fuel it seems like you can just build a main tank with a flop tube and inverted vents, or you can build a main tank with a sump tank and standpipe for inverted. Both require appropriate vents for upright and inverted. I bought the Skybolt build manual so I have the plans for both styles.
The downside of putting a flop tube in the main tank without an inverted sump seems to be stiffening of the flop tube over time, possible hangups of the flop tube on baffles, and temporary power loss while the flop tube looks for fuel.
The downside of the separate sump is more work and a more complicated fuel level and venting system.
The sump tank system seems to eliminate the temporary power loss issue.
Any thoughts about the best way to go? This is something I would rather not experiment with.
That brings me to my question: what are the pros and cons of various inverted systems?
For oil, I’m thinking about the Raven system because it’s a bit more compact and it costs less. But maybe the Christen is better?
For fuel it seems like you can just build a main tank with a flop tube and inverted vents, or you can build a main tank with a sump tank and standpipe for inverted. Both require appropriate vents for upright and inverted. I bought the Skybolt build manual so I have the plans for both styles.
The downside of putting a flop tube in the main tank without an inverted sump seems to be stiffening of the flop tube over time, possible hangups of the flop tube on baffles, and temporary power loss while the flop tube looks for fuel.
The downside of the separate sump is more work and a more complicated fuel level and venting system.
The sump tank system seems to eliminate the temporary power loss issue.
Any thoughts about the best way to go? This is something I would rather not experiment with.
