gschuld
Well-Known Member
I will need to make two stub wing fuel tanks for my KR project. I am fortunate enough to have a professional marine aluminum fuel tank and sportfish tower builder as a good friend of mine. I can get the material at cost, and I can have free run of his shop(bending brakes, etc. to cut, shape, and prep welded style tanks for him to weld up for me once they are ready(I've already built a few tank with him in the past this way for a few boat projects). Other than the wholesale cost of the materials, it will cost me nothing for top quality welded tanks. Welded tanks use thicker material than riveted and prosealed tanks though. My tank would be roughly 22" x 20" and follow a laminar flow wingshape chordwise, about 8" tall at the fwd end tapering to 5" at the back end(about 12 gallons). I figure that using .090 aluminum in one continuous wrap with shaped end pieces and a single center support/baffle would be the most logical construction with the least amount of weld seams(plus the anti slosh foam). Assuming .090 is a reasonable thickness, I come up with just under 12 lbs per tank. This is nearly identical to a similar sized molded (Moeller)marine polyethylene tank of the same interior volume(though it obviously wouldn't fit since it's reactangular). I am not sure what thickness would be appropriate for a riveted/prosealed tank, but I'll guess that the thickness would be roughly half the .090 of the welded. If that is the case, having the thicker welded tanks could cost me an extra 12lbs overall. For a 1350 target gross weight two place plane, that is a decent amount of extra weight.
Is it fair to say that going with the thicker welded fuel tanks will likely result in stronger, more puncture/crash resistant tanks? That would certainly help to justify the extra weight. I also would have the peace of mind knowing that the tanks were done up by a pro who has built hundreds of aluminum fuel tanks for the abusive marine applications. Neither he nor I have any experience with riveted/proseal type tanks so that is not a plus, though I'm sure I could figure out how to do it competently.
Any thoughts?
George
Is it fair to say that going with the thicker welded fuel tanks will likely result in stronger, more puncture/crash resistant tanks? That would certainly help to justify the extra weight. I also would have the peace of mind knowing that the tanks were done up by a pro who has built hundreds of aluminum fuel tanks for the abusive marine applications. Neither he nor I have any experience with riveted/proseal type tanks so that is not a plus, though I'm sure I could figure out how to do it competently.
Any thoughts?
George
