[Fot] Fwd: Cold Fuel

[Greg Hilyer]

Don’t have much to contribute these days so I’m mostly silent here. But every once in awhile a thread sparks something I’m compelled to reply to. 
In 1971 my father did the London to Victoria (BC Canada) air race. The stranglehold (for all) was going to be refueling in Greenland (maybe Iceland - I’m not sure).  There were only two fuel pumps and all the planes would be coming in at about the same time and out as fast as possible. With the aux tank in the back seat, about 180 gallons were required. Months in advance, Dad contacted a guy with a pick-up and sent him a waterbed. Pick-up guy met him at the end of the airstrip, and (hand) pumped a full load into the Comanche 400T. To the amazement of all, they were in and out in record time!
But I digress... 
To get to the start of the race, he and copilot Bill, had to fly the plane from Seattle to London. Actually not a problem (other than the foaming of the runway at the Piper factory en-route for a wheels-up landing that never transpired). On the trip east, they had mostly calm air at high altitude. But shortly after the start in London they got into some turbulence and flew a lower altitude than wanted (optimum cruising altitude was 24-32k’ (single engine prop plane and on oxygen). 
Dad was always a heavy smoker. About 50 miles from the start, his copilot Bill smelled gas. Dad wasn’t worried and lit another cigarette. In the next round of turbulence, Bill looked into the back seat (aux tank area) and saw a HUGE stream of fuel coming out of a vent line! Crazy as it made my dad, he didn’t smoke again on that leg - or at least until that tank was exhausted.
Point being that at the lower altitude and with warmer temps, the fuel expand quite a bit! That’s why dad would always refuel the night before a cross-country trip and why there was often fuel dripping on the hanger floor in the morning before we headed out.
Make no mistake... gasoline expands a lot!
Greg “Lunker” Hilyer
TR4 #314
Albuquerque NM



> On Sep 26, 2019, at 8:.28 PM, Brad Eells via Fot <fot at autox.team.net> wrote:
> 
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> Funny this came up today:
> 
> https://vintageracecar.com/cool-fuel-penske-and-the-art-of-refuelling/2/
> 
> Brad Eells
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Sep 26, 2019, at 5:20 PM, Bill Dentinger via Fot <fot at autox.team.net> w=
> rote:
>> =20
>> =EF=BB=BFSmokey signed all of our event posters at that 1992 event.
>> Bill Dentinger
>> =20
>> Sent from AOL Mobile Mail
>> =20
>>> On Thursday, September 26, 2019, Jerry Van Vlack via Fot <fot at autox.team.=
> net> wrote:
>>> =20
>>> I think Smokey Yunick also built a scaled down Chevy Malibu that looked c=
> orrect. Don=E2=80=99t recall if he got caught before he