May 24, 2020
Since we were putting all the inverted mods into the first bay of the left fuel tank the fuel level sender had to go in the next bay over. To get access we pulled the fuel tank off the wing, which took a lot longer than expected. The instructions read like it’s only held on by the screws and two bolts but it turned out there were several more bolts along the fuel tank. Even after everything is removed, there’s a lot of friction holding the tank on and it took both of us to wrestle it off without letting the wing falling off of the table.
Fly-cutter 
New Hole 
Fuel Sender
We’re using the resistive senders which have a float on an arm that needs to move freely from full to empty. A hole needed to be cut in the back of the fuel tank, which was our first change to use the fly-cutter. It’s a tool that’ll very quickly take off a finger if used recklessly, but it also makes great circles. Once the hole was cut we spent an hour bending the arm of the float to try and find the right shape so that it could go through the full range of motion without resting on the top or bottom of the tank.
Inverted Fuel Mods 
Giant Drill Bit 
Fuel Pick-Up Hole
Other miscellaneous things that we finished today included drilling the fuel pick-up hole where the flop tube will mount, 1 of 2 anti-hang up brackets, and a plate to cover the hole in the middle of the first rib. The bracket will keep the flop tube from getting stuck on the barn door or anywhere else it shouldn’t. The plate, like the barn door, will keep fuel from flowing out of the bay during acrobatics.
We put an order into Van’s for some tank sealant and the tank closeout plate that doesn’t come with holes predrilled for the fuel sender. While we wait for that to arrive, we’ll get started on the right tank.
Cheers,
-Kacy
(Total Build Time: 199.5 hrs)