Additional Fuel Tank

I have thought quite a bit about the range of my 303. With the 5 gallons of fuel on board. I would have a range right about 100 miles or a little less. Your never sure about this until you actually start flying and see. There would be a few places in our area I would like to fly to and I would be on the edge as far as having enough fuel. I talked to Mike Makepeace quite a while ago and he told me that I could with no problem add an additional 5 gallons to the front of the plane.

This photo shows the location of the additional fuel tank. The tank is made out of 1/2" foam and will be fiber glassed. After the tank is finished the foam will be dissolved with gasoline. Than a tank sealer will be sloshed around inside the tank to fill in any pin holes that might exist. When this tank is finished it will hold about 3.2 gallons.

This shows the bottom of the tank with the sump glassed into place.

Next I removed the foam to expose the sump so I could install the drain fitting.

Next the filler neck was glassed into position. The top of the tank will than be put into place and glassed into position. I did not put the filler neck all the way to the front of the tank. The reason is the when the plane levels out in flight there will be plenty of room for the fuel and it will not spill out of the tank.

Here is the tank in the final position. There will be blocks glued around the base to keep the tank in position. Bungee cords will be used to keep the tank down in position.

The above tank will not be used. The tank is about 1/4" to tall. A major mistake on my part. This is my first attempt at fiberglass work and I'm sure I can do a better job on another one. The next tank will look just like the one above and be in the same position. The only difference is that it will be 1/2" shorter and about 1" longer to keep it about 3 gallons.

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