Fuel Tank Repair

During our first annual inspection, Kelly noticed a slight blue stain under the right wing.  Aviation fuel is dyed blue, so when fuel leaks and evaporates, it leaves a blue stain.  After taking a closer look, it appeared to be leaking from around the outlet of the fuel tank.  It’s a small leak, so not dangerous, but still needs to be fixed.  While we were still building, I noticed a slight leak in this area, between the flange that the fitting screws into and the inboard tank rib.  At the time, I repaired it with some fuel tank sealant around the outlet, and that had held up to now.

Apparently, the right way to fix this is to get inside the tank and re-seal it.  We also had an issue where the fuel vent dripped fuel when the tanks were very full, which indicates a leak where the vent tube attaches to the fitting inside the tank.  With both of these problems, it was clear we needed to get into the tank to fix it.  This requires removing the tank and cutting an access hole in the back of the tank.  Though I could have done this myself, we opted to send the entire tank to Van’s for repair.  Since this was one of the pre-built parts and it was clearly built incorrectly, Van’s was willing to take responsibility for the repair.  Here’s what it looks like with the tank removed (the tank *is* the inboard front part of the wing).

Van’s turned the tank around very quickly, so Kelly and I were able to re-mount it last weekend.  In the meantime, we finished the annual inspection, so the airplane is ready to fly again, once we get some good weather.  It’s been a month since the last flight, so I’m eager to get in the air again.