Page 17 - Demo

However, I still had a badly contaminated right main tank, with a total of about 20 gallons in it. As a rule, all takeoffs and landings in a tip tank-equipped Cessna are supposed to be completed using the tip tanks (due to fuel porting concerns with the inboard wing tanks). At this point, the right wing tank had around 15 gallons of uncontaminated fuel brought over from the mainland, with the left side holding about 20 gallons in the tip and 15 in its adjacent wing tank (all clean). The trip to San Cristobal was about 30 nm, or about 20 min- utes. So thankfully, there was enough clean fuel on board to get there safely without touching the contaminated right tip tank at all.
I considered this for a while, and decided the only option was to take off using the left tip tank while cross feeding from the left side to the right engine. Then shortly after, switch the right engine back to its nearby wing tank. With some con- siderable caution, I carried this out and we soon found our- selves arriving at my new pilot friend’s welcoming hangar in San Cristobal. We were greeted by a huge tank of clean 100 LL, and also a mechanic well-versed in the issues of fuel tank contamination. He agreed to flush the right main tank on the 340 while we spent the night at a local hotel then had the ex- pedition ship pick us up in the nearby harbor.
We proceeded to have a nice time cruising around the Gala- pagos for the rest of the week and returned to find the me- chanic had indeed cleaned the tank. It required pulling all the filters and drains and pumping $2000 worth of 100 LL fuel at $11/gallon. He proudly showed me all the wasted fuel along with all the nasty looking stuff he scraped off the filters.
The next day, after paying extra careful attention to all the tank drains, we departed for Guayaquil then Panama. Hav- ing had enough of our handlers “handling,” and being a bit alarmed by the fuel fiasco, the other couple with us (a retired airline pilot and his wife), bailed from the trip immediately after landing in Panama and flew United back to the States. But my wife Kari and I flew north (with the Baron still as company), wandered around central Mexico for a while and wound up spending two very pleasant days at the ancient ruin of Palenque.
Thereafter, we departed Mexico, breezed through U.S. Cus- toms in Tucson and landed back home at KBVS the next day (with the airplane running well the who•le way).
Many years have now passed since this misadventure, how- ever, I still pay close attention to the sump on the right tip tank in that 340. It may be my imagination, but occasionally I see some white stuff that looks like sand. T&T
Kevin Ware is an ATP who also holds CFI, MEII and helicopter ratings, has more than 10,000 hours and is typed in several different business jets. He has been flying for a living on and off since he was 20, and currently works as a contract pilot for various corporations in the Seattle area. When not working as a pilot
he is employed part time as an emergency and urgent care physician. He can be reached at kevin.ware2@aol.com.
Paci c Coast Avionics Quarter Page
4/C Ad
www.AIR.com
June 2018
TWIN & TURBINE • 15