Very sad to hear about Harald's aircraft.
I shall in future try to earth my own A/C and jerry-can whilst filling.
Hopefully we can all learn something from this sorry tale.
Commiserations to Harald and I do hope you are able to repair the A/C.
Jerry
lts@avnet.co.uk
http://www.avnet.co.uk/touchdown
----- Original Message -----
From: Peter S.Lert <peterlert@montrose.net>
Subject: Re: aircraft destroyed
> What an unfortunate way to lose a beautiful airplane! (I've since read
> Harald's post and find that hopefully they'll be able to replace just
> the aft fuselage and elevator. I'd hope they might be able to make a
> "scarf" splice, with inner and outer reinforcing layers, rather than
> having to build a whole new fuselage and install the cockpit module.)
>
> What's particulary sad is that this could have been prevented fairly
> simply. When installing the fuel tank and filler, just add a strip of
> copper or stainless steel braid (1/2" wide would be fine) bonded
> electrically to the aluminum lip of the filler and running all the way
> down to the bottom of the tank. If you're using a metal "jerrycan" to
> fuel, a simple wire with alligator clips at either end will serve to
> ground it _before_ you start pouring. If you're using a plastic can,
> the simple suggestion would be "don't," but failing that, you can make a
> similar wire arrangement within each can you use to fuel.
>
> Ever wonder why conscientious airport fuel truck operators attach a
> ground wire from their truck to some metal part of your airframe before
> they start fueling? Of course, with a Europa or similar "plastic
> fantastic" that may not help much unless the inside of the fuel tank
> "sees" the ground somehow. If you have a capacitance fuel gauge system
> and one side or the other of the capacitor tube is at the airplane
> electrical ground potential, you're set. Incidentally, the fuel truck
> hose is either made of a conductive material, or has its own ground wire
> running along the inside to the nozzle.
>
> Most American military aircraft have a 1/4" plug (looks just like a
> headphone plug) near the fuel filler with a "ground here" placard. No
> reason one couldn't add a similar one to a Europa--a Radio Shack phone
> jack with _both_ sides grounded would be fine.
>
>
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