Message text written by Fred Fillinger
>If ever in a minimum fuel situation, it would
appear to be wise to run the main down as low you dare, to stretch
potentially limited usability of the reserve. And prior thereto,
verifying fuel flow on the reserve side by temporarily switching.
<
This is one of the reasons I opted for a parallel fuel system. If you are
that short of fuel you may have other demands for your attention outside
the aircraft (ie sorting out somewhere to land expeditiously). Running the
main side low relying on manual changeover just before the engine coughs is
not my idea of fun. Much better to have a low pressure switch at the main
pump output to sense the lack of pressure and bring on the other pump
feeding from the other side for you. This way a main pump failure in the
cruise (or line blockage, leakage or vapour lock) will be automatically be
handled by the system preventing unnecessary engine shutdown.
Nigel Charles
|