Hangar Refueling Station

[SkySteve]

I found an ethanol-free gas station close to my home airport, so decided to build a refueling station for my hangar. It will roll up to the back of my pickup truck so I can fill the drum at the gas station then unload the filled drum onto the stand. The bottom of the drum portion of the stand is the same height as the truck tailgate making transfer of the full drum from the truck to the stand easy. (I can't move a 55 gal drum full of fuel so I use a 35 gal drum). The front arm of the fuel stand is hinged so it opens to load the drum, then closes and latches to secure the drum on the stand. I added feet to the bottom (adding one foot of width to the stand) then installed castering rubber wheels making the stand very stable and easy to move about the hangar. Using a 2 or 3 step ladder it is easy to refuel the plane's wing tanks.

[DesertFox4]

Your fuel stand looks good and strong Steve. Nice job. Hope it makes your Kitfoxing even more enjoyable.

Congrats on the corn sqweezin-free gas find too. It doesn't exist here. Also we can't store fuel in our hangars due to, well, you know.
Huge government.

[Lion8]

If I may offer an additional suggestion. Install a ground strap from the frame to the ground. Relieve static charge. Lot of gas. Once it gets a static spark jump, there is no putting it out. - Lion8

[SkySteve]

Lion8. Good call. Will add a grounding strap. Any idea what I should use?

[Dave F]

Plastic tank = static source in a huge way. especially if you are moving it around.
You need to ground the fuel asw the static charge will build up in hte fuel itself.

Be careful.

[SkySteve]

Dave, are you suggesting I somehow ground the fuel pump to the stand to the ground? Or should I scrap the whole idea of having a fuel supply in my hangar?

[jamesmil]

this is the fuel system we put together to refuel with, we load the 5 gal gas cans in the back of the pickup truck and go to the station and fill them and then use the big funnel to pour the gas into the tank with the pump on it and then pump in to the plane. we ground thru the ac power system using the ground in the wall plug thru the drop cord with the aircraft ground to the pump housing.

[SkySteve]

Jamesmil,
That's pretty much what I'm replacing. Trying to make fewer trips to the gas station. I've just never grounded mine. I will now.

[Lion8]

As far as 'ground straps', a piece of bare copper wire, solid or stranded, with steel alligator clips at each end will work as a ground. A friend and I travel to get 300 gal. each year in a farm type fuel tank. It is on a big landscape trailer. The entire rig is not grounded. The gas station is supposed to have a woven metal liner inside the hose to act as a ground, but I can't see it so we use ground straps above at the gas station from metal tank to a metal part of the fuel pump.
I have this rule that NO REFUELING EVER takes place inside the hanger. If a fire ever started, you can never put it out and everything is a total loss. Just a recommendation. -Lion8

[Dave S]

FYI....this one; which happened today, is possibly fuel-handling-in-the-hangar related.....

http://mendotaheights.patch.com/arti...g-field-hangar

Dave S
St Paul, MN