REFLECTOR: Fuel Consumption Performance

[Scott Derrick]

Doug,

You experienced my worst nightmare concerning that Wallmart special
filter!   I'd be thinking real hard about installing a real fuel filter!

I installed one like this, I'm assuming because the filter is so large
it can handle a huge amount of gunk before clogging up. 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Fram-HPG1-fuel-filter-assembly-housing-HPG-1-racing-NIB_W0QQitemZ170365927073QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20090730?IMSfp=TL0907301510002r9576

it just makes no sense to use a $0.75 fuel filter in a $125K-$250k 
airplane, does it?

Scott

Douglas Holub wrote:
> I have the same filter. Glass so I can look at it and see if it's
> getting clogged. I've been cleaning fiberglass dust out of it about
> every 20 hours. We were flying through some very bumpy air for about
> an hour earlier that day, so I'm thinking that fuel was splashing in
> places that don't normally get splashed and washing fiberglass dust
> down into the tank, or that the agitation had the effect of
> distributing the dust in the cylinder evenly around the element,
> instead of settling at the bottom like it usually does.
>
> Whatever the cause, I noticed that over a period of about an hour I
> needed to keep pushing the mixture knob in a little to keep the EGTs
> where I wanted them. It should have registered sooner that something
> was wrong, but when the mixture knob was full rich and the engine was
> running 50 degrees LOP at 10,500 feet I finally said to myself, "This
> is not right." I thought that maybe a screw was backing out somewhere
> in the mixture control linkage and decided to make a precautionary
> landing. We were near an airstrip, but by the time I figured out
> everything I needed to know to land there I was a few minutes past it,
> so I decided to head for the next little town about 20 minutes away.
> Also because the AFD described the one we were near as unattended, and
> I thought I might need some help. Just when I decided to keep going,
> the engine started to die like it does when I lean it too much. With
> my heart in my throat, I pulled the power back and the engine started
> running ok again. I landed on the deserted field with construction
> equipment on the runway. The rest of the story is a pretty good one,
> but I won't clog up the Reflector with it.  It involves being very
> hungry and thirsty, making a gasket out of two coke cans and some
> slick magazine covers, and spending the night at an airport in the
> middle of nowhere.
>
> Doug
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Scott Derrick" <scott at tnstaafl.net>
> To: "Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list" <reflector at tvbf.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, August 12, 2009 8:08 AM
> Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Fuel Consumption Performance
>
>
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