Chris My first thought is that the fuel tank should not be thought of as crash protection. But there it is, right there in front of you on most KRs. A chain is only as strong as the weakest link so the argument of glass versus aluminum tanks should focus on the weaker part of the installation which is the same on both, ie the filters, pumps, fuel lines, gascolater, etc. The glassed in tank integral with the forward deck does add stiffness but that is'nt necessary. Some builders have removeable front decks. On my KR it is per plans but on my Horizon it is an aluminum tank just on metal strap hangers, also per plans. One of the advantages of the strapped in tank is it's removeability should problems occur. On the Horizon I made the straps from that metal banding used in the shipping industry where they bundle stuff to skids or stacks of lumber, etc. It's free at your local lumber yard, in their dumpster!! Spar varnish refers to EXTERIOR varnish and yes, it was initially developed for the ships of old...when lads were hoisted up the mast in a little seat and a large bucket of varnish...and as they were lowered they would put their gloved hands into the varnish bucket and wipe on the mast. And they didn't always have gloves!! ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chris Johnston" <chr...@ozdocs.net.au> To: <kr...@mylist.net> Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2006 4:12 AM Subject: KR> Fuel tanks
> > > I am after some advice on fuel tanks, would a alumimium tank give > better crash protection than a fabricated foam and glass tank, but I guess > a glass tank integral with the turtle deck would add a lot of stiffness to > the front end? and a glass/turtle deck I suppose would just be epoxied > into the top fuselage frames. How do most people fit alumimium tanks, bolt > them in or glass/flox to the upper longeron, extra cross members and > straps? Anyone had any experience in using the Summit drag racing tanks? > Are these foam filled tanks much use in an accident? Does the foam have > much affect on the flow rate if the tank is ruptured? There also plastic I > believe, so probably not much use in a fire. > I am also a bit curious as to why gussets are not added inside the fuse > cross members and the side frame vertical members, so that teh fuselage > cross section becomes 8 sided , I would have thought they would have added > a lot of torsional rigidity to the fuselage, no one much seems to fit > them. Any reason why they cannot be fitted? > And spar varnish, why is it called spar varnish, ( nothing to do with > spars on sailing ships?), and what is its main claim to fame, and finally, > can anyone tell me what process is going on chemically speaking after > spruce is exposed to sunlight/air and discolouring. > > > Chris Johnston. > _______________________________________ > Search the KRnet Archives at http://www.maddyhome.com/krsrch/index.jsp > to UNsubscribe from KRnet, send a message to krnet-le...@mylist.net > please see other KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html
