Hey Guys, I don't often send but I thought this might be worthy of a big FYI thing.
Just went to Sun-n-Fun and was on my way home. Made a fuel stop and had a surprise. I always say that I will never run out of fuel. I always fly by time, not the gauges. And I always have a multi hour safety factor. Usually mother nature calls before I can hit or even get close to my fuel endurance range. But, this was new. I departed with 56 gallons of fuel, Almost 7 hours of endurance. Did a fuel stop at about 3 hours and discovered a leaking petcock. If you can see the videos, I was sending these to my partner (who is an A&P) to determine options. The problem seemed to have been that when I sumped the tanks, one of the petcocks did not seat properly. And I did not notice the leak. A small bit of debris must have gotten into it and blocked it from closing properly. So it leaked for almost 3 hours. I lost about 6 gallons - best estimate. Had plenty of fuel left, but it was an eye-opener. Could have been worse. Could have leaked much more. I have never practised running the engine out of fuel, switching fuel tanks and restarting. Should work but I've never done it. And I will actually try that - probably in the next couple of weekends. And on the ground of course. Pushed the petcock up and rotated it a couple of times, letting fuel flow out. Fuel all down my arm. Seemed to clean out the debris and close. Filled up and took off for home. But I still used that tank for most of the remaining 2 hour trip. Rationale was that if it leaked, I could make it home with just the right tank (about 3.5 hour endurance with that tank alone). Switched to the right tank about 30 miles out so that I would not have to worry about an engine cut out while landing. Just in case. After landing check it seems to have reseated properly. However, it will now be a new thing to check. After a complete preflight, my last check will be a final look at the petcocks to make sure they are properly seated. Never happened before, but I will keep an eye on it so it won't happen again. So FYI, always double check the petcocks. But I still had fun, and that was the most important part. Ray_pilot New Orleans Download Attachment Available until May 15, 2024 <https://www.icloud.com/attachment/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fcvws.icloud-content.com%2FB%2FAYkz51bBO1o6M5wI81otdyzrnzsrARtgbgh5KwpMZqnjtvcFTNxw6Q8C%2F%24%7Bf%7D%3Fo%3DAoFE1FvDX7I7qG1Kwil7K2N-W3R1raNuitDMlEbL_85v%26v%3D1%26x%3D3%26a%3DCAogcX6D2IT6FWxqw4EbTSAVfpEPZrUawZXKjKyVma9fTHESeBC11rmd7jEYtea08fcxIgEAKgkC6AMA_1Yzp7JSBOufOytaBHDpDwJqJkLH7xF7XWaNs0FlsAY9ocqHquv_q0ZwNvnHNnuv1RfjOpf-zTlXcibGn0X0j-Pj27CjHVuQHSkGzUrI70CfXnhcFj268B701NXaYfOqvg%26e%3D1715808842%26fl%3D%26r%3D7C2198BC-386D-48A4-AC5E-A2D2B6B34572-1%26k%3D%24%7Buk%7D%26ckc%3Dcom.apple.largeattachment%26ckz%3D495676FA-D4E5-4452-A9DE-2D2580A8B977%26p%3D108%26s%3DpCRmtdN3gudq0kCo1Mus8XIuX14&uk=S8chmzCmKXpj-Wunsvz6og&f=IMG_5077.MOV&sz=13179455> Click to Download <https://www.icloud.com/attachment/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fcvws.icloud-content.com%2FB%2FAYkz51bBO1o6M5wI81otdyzrnzsrARtgbgh5KwpMZqnjtvcFTNxw6Q8C%2F%24%7Bf%7D%3Fo%3DAoFE1FvDX7I7qG1Kwil7K2N-W3R1raNuitDMlEbL_85v%26v%3D1%26x%3D3%26a%3DCAogcX6D2IT6FWxqw4EbTSAVfpEPZrUawZXKjKyVma9fTHESeBC11rmd7jEYtea08fcxIgEAKgkC6AMA_1Yzp7JSBOufOytaBHDpDwJqJkLH7xF7XWaNs0FlsAY9ocqHquv_q0ZwNvnHNnuv1RfjOpf-zTlXcibGn0X0j-Pj27CjHVuQHSkGzUrI70CfXnhcFj268B701NXaYfOqvg%26e%3D1715808842%26fl%3D%26r%3D7C2198BC-386D-48A4-AC5E-A2D2B6B34572-1%26k%3D%24%7Buk%7D%26ckc%3Dcom.apple.largeattachment%26ckz%3D495676FA-D4E5-4452-A9DE-2D2580A8B977%26p%3D108%26s%3DpCRmtdN3gudq0kCo1Mus8XIuX14&uk=S8chmzCmKXpj-Wunsvz6og&f=IMG_5077.MOV&sz=13179455> IMG_5077.MOV 0 bytes Click to Download <https://www.icloud.com/attachment/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fcvws.icloud-content.com%2FB%2FAY-JSt4l1mbz5g0eN3C_uu-zNVNHAUgbMei1sCTivcpMhTSXBdZpn5kq%2F%24%7Bf%7D%3Fo%3DAoTMdsfNMP0moF5mSCiwofwWRLOdCdW3KR-_hPlKq0AU%26v%3D1%26x%3D3%26a%3DCAogJsg7uP2mnA7WykQgrRBu6PskRBpw_DuPX4cTb3FUQ9ISeBCK1bmd7jEYiuW08fcxIgEAKgkC6AMA_34S499SBLM1U0daBGmfmSpqJk6yIfobELQ6fl4k1yIDkdSkwHe5nDNaoMeKKLnMU13rWFMI9SDTciZz7vTmTv5NkdyNaeTr781j2-IjYND2lZLDO069_xL92PsGPDhSzw%26e%3D1715808842%26fl%3D%26r%3DD2FA998C-1A6C-4339-9466-2B411D40A78F-1%26k%3D%24%7Buk%7D%26ckc%3Dcom.apple.largeattachment%26ckz%3D495676FA-D4E5-4452-A9DE-2D2580A8B977%26p%3D108%26s%3DC4D8MUruRK5PI8sEtdixtQcUlc8&uk=W7x9UGq24jPxX-yq9Keg6w&f=IMG_5078.MOV&sz=22247515> IMG_5078.MOV 0 bytes Sent from my iPhone
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