Kolb, Mark II Driver/Builders

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Stache

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Yamagata, Japan
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Stache
Kolb; Mark III
The following Special Aviation Maintenance Alert was prompted by a recent aircraft accident involving a Kolb, Model Mark III, which was investigated by the FAA Louisville Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The findings of this investigation led to a Safety Recommendation from the Louisville FSDO that proposes a series of actions, including a request to issue an immediate Aviation Maintenance Alert.

Due to the findings in a NTSB Preliminary Accident Report concerning a Kolb, Model Mark III, the FAA recommends the inspection of all Kolb or other Experimental Amateur Built aircraft without fuel tank drains installed, for contamination and water. Owners are further encouraged to consider installing fuel pickup inlet screens and proper low point fuel sump drains in the fuel tanks, if not installed.

Fuel sumps, drains, filters, and strainers are inexpensive, lightweight, and effective mechanical measures, which aid both man and machine with fuel management concerns. They cannot, however, prevent fuel contamination. All pilots should be mindful of what goes into their tanks, how long it has been there, and under what circumstances.

The following reprint of the related NTSB Preliminary Accident Report, was obtained from the NTSB website www.ntsb.gov/ntsb. (The article is printed as it appears on the NTSB website.)
NTSB Identification: NYC05LA017
 
Stache said:
...the FAA recommends the inspection of all Kolb or other Experimental Amateur Built aircraft without fuel tank drains installed, for contamination and water. ...
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Wow. I didn't know there were any aircraft without drains. It seems like such an important item, whether you have to follow the FARs or not.

Chris
 
cwyckham said:
Wow. I didn't know there were any aircraft without drains. It seems like such an important item, whether you have to follow the FARs or not.

Chris
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Whereas I agree fully with your statement, think for a minute about how often your car stumbles or dies from water in the fuel. How often does your car's fuel line freeze up in the winter?

If the homebuilt experimental was using mogas with ethanol, it is unlikely to have a water problem.

It does, however, open up another potential problem when you get some gas that doesn't have ethanol added (ethanol free Mogas or Avgas) and somehow water gets into the system. This guy got complacent and got caught....

-Skip
 
i never had any problems in my car with water before there was ethanol in the fuel either...
 
There are a lot of experimental airplanes without fuel sump locations. I'm also willing to bet that there are many pilots who never sump fuel. Ever.

I know that it was never done in my family with the Stearmans. My grandpa always said that if somehow water did get into the fuel they'd know about it LONG before they ever made it off the ground.

That said. I always sump for water. It takes about half a second and it just *might* make the difference that saves you. Seems stupid not to take the time to do it.
 
Skip Miller said:
Whereas I agree fully with your statement, think for a minute about how often your car stumbles or dies from water in the fuel. How often does your car's fuel line freeze up in the winter?
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Actually, mine froze up about three weeks ago. It was difficult to start and would die almost as soon as I got it started. This was after the first time I'd been driving it in snow.

The key, however, is that this happened just after it had been sitting for a couple of weeks unused with only a quarter tank of fuel. I made it home (1/2 hr drive) just fine, but that was enough to pull some moisture out of the tank and into the lines and when I went to start it the next day, it had problems. One bottle of Iso-HEET and it was just fine.

Most of you don't use your cars like that. Most of you drive them every day. But how often do you fly your plane every day in the winter? The above issue with my car is very similar to having your plane in the hangar for a week or two and going somewhere for a $100 burger. On the return trip, ya better watch it! :eek:

I'm also reminded of what my primary CFI told me. He'd been going to fly the Aztec. He sumped the first tank and tossed it away. Then he realized that it wasn't very blue (most of the fuel testers have been stained blue over time, so I'm sure it wasn't completely clear either). He pulled another sample to be sure, and it was a good thing he did - It was definitely NOT blue. He pulled four cups full of water before he got one that had any fuel in it at all! :hairraise:

I've never had any water in my fuel when I went flying, but I do test it.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
I've never had any water in my fuel when I went flying, but I do test it.
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I've found water in the fuel on a few occasions, and I only have 85 hours flying powered aircraft.

I've also had problems with water in car engines. I worked on a small island doing survey once. We had constant problems with the engines running rough because the only gas station on the island had water in their tanks. Not a big deal in a truck, bit of a problem in an airplane.

Chris
 
I preflighted a rental Archer that had just landed. I think the person who had it before me was doing pattern work for maybe an hour. I had my father with me, and told him "I'll do a preflight just because it's good practice, even though the plane just landed. Odds are nothing is wrong." I sumped the tanks. The selector was set to Right. First sample from the left was pure water. Another lesson about complacency -- the sample looked wrong, but only that little floating ball really got the point across to me. I was so used to sumping for the sake of it I had gotten out of the practice of smelling/looking for blue. Good thing I had that magic ball fuel sampler. It took about 20 samples before I got fuel out of the tank.

She would have had quite a surprise had she switched tanks. As I would have.
 
I found water in the tanks of a school plane which had been sitting for several weeks, helping my CFI preflight before he ferried it off to another airport.

I haven't found water in my cherokee, but I fly it almost every day.
 
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