Fuel System
The fuel system in the
SQ-2000 is typical of most canard airplanes... I think. This is the only
aircraft I've built, so I don't really know. Here's the basics: The
strakes form the left and right main fuel tanks, each holding about 20
gallons. They are plumbed to gravity feed into a center fuel sump, located
at the aft-rear of the aircraft--just forward of the firewall, on top of the
NACA inlet. Fuel will then be pumped from the bottom of the center sump
directly to the engine.
| Center
fuel sump construction |
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The center fuel sump is
essentially just a box with a couple of baffles. The first step was
to layup a bunch of flat panels (.25" fuel resistant foam core). |
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Once the panels were all cured
and trimmed up, I temporarily taped them together, minus the front panel,
to get an idea of what I was creating. |
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Then I slid it into place to make
sure there were no installation problems.
At this point, it became clear
to me that this design was wasting valuable fuel volume. Since the
sump fits on top of the NACA inlet, it's angled down at 12 degrees.
I figured if I redesigned the side panels so that the top of the sump was
waterline-level, I could gain an extra gallon of fuel with virtually no
loss of cabin space, and only a few more ounces of glass and core. |
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Here's the redesigned version
with angled side panels. When installed, the top panel will the
level.
Before closing out the box, I
need to coat it with a fuel tank sealer, but I haven't decided what type
of fitting to use for the exit port (angle vs. tee), so I'm holding off
for now. |
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