Fold the Wing Drain the Tank?

[MarkD 53]

I plan to keep my plane at home and trailer the couple of miles to the airport when the need to fly gets too strong to resist.  I have always drained the wing tank before trailering the plane but I'm wondering if that is absolutely necessary considering I'm only going a few miles.

 

I have and install the support brackets whenever I fold the wings, especially on the trailer.  I also have and install control locks on the rudder and elevator so the controls do not have to absorb any shock.

 

Not draining the wing tank would make my set-up or break-down time around 15 minutes.  Draining or filling the fuel would add 10-15 minutes to the process.

 

Any thoughts on the issue from guys who have trailered their planes?

 

MarkD

[thebriman 69]

I have found if you fold the wings with tanks over about half full, fuel will leak out on the way home. 

[jlpeet 2]

Do you want to keep that old gas in your tank? It's not good for the tank ,run it in your car get fresh gas when you fly you'll fell better.

 

Jim

[C5Engineer 1170]

I believe he is referring to folding after every flight not for long term storage. You can do it up to a certain quanity but after that prepare for a mess.

[High Country 69]

We fold our plane up and trailer for storage as well, if your just going a short distance I would't bother draining out the tanks as long as you're under half tanks, if not just go back up for a while! Make sure you have the braces on to take the stress of the wings bouncing and the added weight of the fuel though. you do have the front braces that go from the front spar down to the lift strut area right? 

[tcj 150]

If you rig up your trailer so that the plane sits level you can swing the wings back without leaking gas.

[MarkD 53]

I built the trailer to accommodate the plane and keep the wings fairly level.  I have the wing braces and the tail braces for the wings.  I can get the plane off the trailer and ready to fly in about 15 - 20 minutes if I do not have to fuel up from empty.  I premix fuel so I can't burn it in my truck.  For long term storage I will drain everything anyway but for summer flying I am hoping to not drain the tanks. 

 

Thanks for the comments,  Very helpful,

 

MarkD

[C5Engineer 1170]

Mixed gas burns just fine in the truck as well as the lawn mower.

[High Country 69]

Mixed gas burns just fine in the truck as well as the lawn mower.

and you won't have to worry about the mosquitoes following you either. 

[thebriman 69]

I burn old premix in the truck without issues. it probably dilutes to 10000:1.  "upper cylinder lube"

[EDMO 1078]

I have burned Marvel Mystery Oil in everything I owned for years - Good Stuff - 2 ounces / 5 gallons fuel.

EDMO

[jlpeet 2]

How long does it take before gas starts to go bad?

[MarkD 53]

How long gas is good when pre-mixed has been a discussion among ultralight flyers for years. I have never let gas sit in a tank long enough for it to go bad. I'll see if I can find some of the old articles regarding the deterioration of mixed fuel.

I know that 100LL has stabilizers that allow it to sit in an airplane tank for as long as a year and still meet minimum standards for use. When I worked in a Marina we would put stabilizer in the tanks of boats that we were storing for the winter and the fuel would be good till the next season, usually about 6 months.

If I remember correctly a full tank of gas will last much longer than a partially filled tank, probably due to exposure to air and volume of air exchange during temperature transients, extent of loss of volatile components and all that impressive technical scientific jargon stuff.

Sorry, just can't help it....

MarkD