Korn fed Kitfox

[bbryan]

Building a 1991 Kitfox 3 with the 13.5 gal. fiberglass wing tank. Has anybody had any luck using these or should I invest the extra bucks for the poly tanks. Is it even legal to burn Ethanol based fuel? I hate to spend the extra money but fibers or leaks is something I don't want. How about sloshing? How well does the 582 run on car fuel? Anybody have a source for replacement tanks. Its such a nice looking tank I hate to waste it. Wont the filter catch the fibers? "I need answers man!" please!

[Mnflyer]

Hi, I wouldn't even consider putting that ethanol crap in my planes tanks, it has the nasty effect of dissolving fiberglass resin. It has a tendency for phase separation and taking on water.

[Robin G]

I'll be interested to follow your progress. I am flying one of the older models, also a 3 with 13 gal wing tanks and a 582 blue head. To date I have only burned avgas. There are different gasket specs for auto gas. Today, we were replacing the screen on one of the fuel filters and were planning on replacing the rubber gasket as well, until we noticed it was specifically for car gas, not to be used with avgas. So. I'd be careful with introducing corn squeezins. Do everything you can to make sure the machine keeps running without incident, even if it means a few more cents per gal. Incidents will always cost more. Keep in touch.

robin g

[SkyPirate]

I have had some bad experience with fiber glass tanks,..the bi plane in my photo album had fiber glass tanks and it is one of the reasons why I grounded it and donated it to the kids park ,...
a product is made to line the interior of motor cycle tanks ,,which can be applied to steel ,..plastic,,fiber glass,.to repair leaks .it is a two part mixer,.it also has the ability to be used with any fuel .and for the life of me I can not remember the brand name ,..but ,..don't give up yet,..when I was in need of this material ,..I went to a motor cycle dealer and asked if there was such a product,.. after a few moments of searching ,.
they reappeared with this product,..if I remember right on the price it was around $50.,..when using it ,..you must be able to rotate the tank in all dirrections,..or ."splash" it around inside well enough to completely cover the interior.
I used this on a phantom ultralight fuel tank,..after finding fibers in the fuel filter,.from the fiber glass tank,...after applying the "mix" ,..it totally eliminated any fibers in the filter,..I used both av gas and auto gas in that plane,..

[SkyPirate]

I'm thinking maybe the viscocity of the resin would be one problem,..as for it's ability to withstand different fuels ,..I do not know,..but if I remember right ,..there was a guy who used the epoxy resin on a RV fuel tank and had a problem with it ,..not sure if it was from using the resin or not ..but the bubble on the bottom of the tank all but fell off once he put fuel in it,..if this was the area he used the epoxy resin or not ,..I am not sure,.and last I knew,..if anyone was in need of RV parts,..that plane was grounded do to poor construction or I should say ..never got its airworthiness ticket,..it is complete ,..or was last I knew..including a brand new lycoming,..size I am not sure,..and avionics..it's located in NH,..I'm sorry to say my contact concerning the RV has passed on,..but ..he flew out of Keene NH,..and someone at that airport might possibly know if it's still available.

[lbushrod]

I have read about this subject on many forums and decided that money is the only consideration on what type of gas to use. The percentage of alcohol in mogas is rising from all I can gather so using mogas is like infecting your tank and engine with a virus of sorts. Some get sick, others survive.

In particular, I don't like sloshing gas cans in my car to the airport or pouring gas from a can all over my wings. Most of the fields I operate out of do not have mogas so I opt for avgas. My Jabiru will burn either, my 582 did well with avgas.

More expensive? Yup but the PITA factor - Pain in the ----, wins me over. I put my clear fuel filters to the front of the cockpit so I could monitor fuel flow and easily notice particulates that might be gathering. I don't have any trouble with deterioration that I am aware of.

Pete

[DesertFox4]

Pete,

I concur on the Av-gas use. One fill up of alcohol laced fuel dissolved my fuel tanks resin after less than a week sitting in the hangar. As I fired up to taxi to the ramp my engine went into convulsions. I discovered both carbs "fogged" throughout with a brown sticky substance which of course was dissolved resin. Three hours of work on each carb with two cans of carb cleaner each , several carb cleaning wires to remove the crap from the little tiny passageways and a couple brass brushes along with two complete carb overhaul kits later it ran fine. NO MORE SQWEEZINS' going through my Kitfox. It doesn't agree with its delicate constitution. I think the engine will digest it fine but the Kitfox tanks of that day and some fuel lines don't do as well. Now I know some use alcohol and have no difficulties but I did not fair as well as some have. Take it for what it is worth.
I did since slosh my left tank with alcohol resistant slosh from Aircraft Spruce but that was only to stop a very small leak in the rear seam of the tank. The right tank is still virgin.
If that had occurred at altitude it was a guaranteed forced landing.

Just a headsup , the fiberglass strands that may be flushed out of a new tank are completely invisible when immersed in fuel. You will not know they are blocking even your see-thru fuel filters until your engine quits or you change filters and actually take the filter apart and check the filter element for contamination.
Good reason to change the filters after ground tests and just before first flight of a new Kitfox and then shortly after first flights change them again. If glass fibers are found in any of the filters keep the shorter change intervals up until the filters test clean. Could keep a new Kitfox pilot from having a very sad first flight experience instead of a celebration of a huge accomplishment.