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- Mar 25, 2013
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This risks being one of those questions asked about a universally accepted fact (like “Is the Moon REALLY made of cheese?”) that shows the idiocy of the questioner to his friends and peers. Here goes:
For a while now the scissor grip on the static line at my airport’s fuel pump has been without a spring. So it doesn’t grip. Sometimes I can delicately entice it to stay on the only useable bit of metal on my Pitts, the single 4-1 exhaust. Other times it just falls off. On one of those times, I gave up, reeled in the line and fueled anyway. I’ll admit that this wasn’t the 1st time. But this time it just so happened that a friendly guy came over to complement the Pitts. Nice! He also mentioned that he was with the FAA. He had my near full attention. Turns out he had no interest in ramp-checking and probably didn’t even notice the lack of a static line. But I was prepared, in case he did scold me (or worse), with a defense. I use a rubber hose between the nozzle and fuel port below the wing.
Rest assured that even though the static grip is still broken, I now make it work every time (unless it falls off while fueling). But is my theory about the rubber hose correct? Fuel is still moving. Static along the plastic hose is still possible? I guess? Sorry, I skipped the electricity lecture in kindergarten and have paid the price in ignorance ever since. Be gentle.
For a while now the scissor grip on the static line at my airport’s fuel pump has been without a spring. So it doesn’t grip. Sometimes I can delicately entice it to stay on the only useable bit of metal on my Pitts, the single 4-1 exhaust. Other times it just falls off. On one of those times, I gave up, reeled in the line and fueled anyway. I’ll admit that this wasn’t the 1st time. But this time it just so happened that a friendly guy came over to complement the Pitts. Nice! He also mentioned that he was with the FAA. He had my near full attention. Turns out he had no interest in ramp-checking and probably didn’t even notice the lack of a static line. But I was prepared, in case he did scold me (or worse), with a defense. I use a rubber hose between the nozzle and fuel port below the wing.
Rest assured that even though the static grip is still broken, I now make it work every time (unless it falls off while fueling). But is my theory about the rubber hose correct? Fuel is still moving. Static along the plastic hose is still possible? I guess? Sorry, I skipped the electricity lecture in kindergarten and have paid the price in ignorance ever since. Be gentle.
