Originally Posted by
Aussie Bart
It is all about the size of the bubble. Large bubbles that enter the fuel pump compress halting the fuel flow to the engine. Large bubbles entering the engine can knock out the flame front. The demonstration clearly shows that if the air is broken up into smaller packets then the interuption is minor. We are by no means suggesting that you should fly with a low level in your air trap on the contrary any air in your trap could mean that you have a fuel pickup issue. However if you practice extreme aerobatics or you do suffer an inflight air leak into your fuel system then a well engineered design will help to keep the engine running and give you a better chance of a safe landing.
Bart
Nicely engineered unit and interesting video.
All you need to do now is make the pick up flexible to reach all the fuel and insert it into a normal tank and do away with the air trap altogether as i have done since I started in jets 20 years ago.
I have only found it necessary to add a small hopper tank in my latest plane because the tank is u shaped and the pick up in the main tank does not always go where it should when inverted. There would have been no problem if the tank had been made as 2 separate tanks or with a divider in it.
John