Very sorry to hear of your friend's loss.

A few months ago I was checking the ground on the antenna on my Cub because of a radio issue. I decided to also check the right fuel tank since I had the tank cover off. The tank wasn't grounded or more correctly bonded as MTV states. The aluminum tank sits in felt liners in the two holding straps and the fuel line out of the tank is rubber. No contact between the metal tank and the airframe. I corrected that by stripping a 16 ga. wire for a few inches and forcing it betwen the tank and the strap and the other end of the wire was attached to the spar. Same situaton was found with the other tank. Same corrective action taken.

Your thoughts please.

Here's what I've been doing for years. I would like to know what you all think.

I fabricated a "soft" 10ga wire consisting of a very long piece attached to a grounding rod on my beach. At the other end I have three wire leads with clips. One goes to the "plastic" 5gal fuel tank sitting up on the wing of my C-180. The second goes to a "Mr. Funnel" funnel. The third goes to the hoist ring on the aircraft. I use a siphon hose from the 5gal tank to the funnel, about two feet in length.

I use this system when I'm on floats (beached) and when in my hangar. The difference in the hangar is that I ground the long end to a metal drain in the floor.
Your thoughts , Please.

If you have ever fueled your car, 4 wheeler, or lawnmower with a plastic jug and lived though it...... you are one of the lucky few.
Could there be some static build up after a flight, I don't know.
Just running my mouth, welcome to BCP!

scottd170, Sounds like it might work. If not, we'll miss you.

I still fuel out of plastic cans and on the hot dry days sometimes I can feel the static electricity on the hairs of my arm when I get up on the plane. I just touch everything an few times (Plane, ground, ladder, cans) and sometimes take a moist rag and wipe down the cans if it's really bad. I just let everything equalize for a minute and that seems to work. I know you can touch the ground and shock the plane sometimes when it's like that because I've done it.

BONDING and GROUNDING

Okay when fueling or defueling from portable containers (even a fuel truck) I get it and fully understand that you are BONDING your receiving or generating source to the other source in order to remove any differential potential between the two static sources but when you pull up the fuel pump on the ramp and connect the clip are you not BONDING and GROUNDING at the same time? I ask because as are you not BONDING your aircraft to the fuel system are you are also (hopefully) now bonded to a properly GROUNDED installation therefore also grounded...

Oh and one of the reasons it seems to me that there is more static risk to aircraft vs cars when fueling is the vapor pressure of AV Gas must be significantly greater than that of low oats auto fuel especially the junk we get these days.

OC

Ps. And if you execute a downwind turn on the way to get fuel how does that effect the price of fuel (MTV will get it... )

Oldcrowe wrote:B
Ps. And if you execute a downwind turn on the way to get fuel how does that effect the price of fuel (MTV will get it... )

Volatility of the fuel actually increases as you turn downwind, as a product of increased acceleration (only if traveling opposite the earth's rotation.) That's why you should go on instruments for those few moments, and go lean of peak.

Oh and one of the reasons it seems to me that there is more static risk to aircraft vs cars when fueling is the vapor pressure of AV Gas must be significantly greater than that of low oats auto fuel especially the junk we get these days.

Not sure if you meant what you said, but avgas has a lower vapor pressure(less volatile) than auto fuel.

180Marty wrote:

Oh and one of the reasons it seems to me that there is more static risk to aircraft vs cars when fueling is the vapor pressure of AV Gas must be significantly greater than that of low oats auto fuel especially the junk we get these days.

Not sure if you meant what you said, but avgas has a lower vapor pressure(less volatile) than auto fuel.

I assumed backwards We change to low vapor pressure car gas here in the summer and the stuff is terrible... it goes bad much quicker than winter gas.

Here is a little more info from a forum that has a word that you guys don't like to hear from me.

Also nearing the winter gas period in which gas vapor pressures are allowed to raise- this then means gas gets cheaper due to the butane family addition but also lowers gas mpg due to lower energy content.

Fueling and de-fueling fires SUCK...!!
Watch out for that static charge.....

Pictures of a PA-18, burned while de-fueling out of the tank drains.



Fuselage bent right behind the rear dog leg.....the rear half of these things are mild steel and that is what took most of the damage...the front half is the good 4130, which is in pretty good shape..






The owner of this cub decided to buy a new frame and rebuild....this was about 5 years ago now. He sold his property a couple months back and dropped off what was left of the old frame at my shop. Figures he will never get around to doing anything with it.

Brian.