Vent line work

We made good progress after finally coming up with a good plan (probably the 10th plan after the first 9 "good plans" didn't work out).  We had planned on using 1/2" rubber fuel hose to connect the vent line to the header tank, but after a test run, we found that it was not flexible enough and was getting crimps (which closed up the tubing) when we tried to snake it from the wing tank vent to the fuselage.

So instead, we decided to use a flexible fuel line with PTFE lining. The brand we used was Earl's UltraPro hose.  Of course, it's more expensive, but it's really the right material for the job.  It is super flexible, smaller outer diameter, lighter, and (reportedly) lasts longer.  The connectors also swivel which makes installation much simpler. Below is a picture of the hose with a 120 degree connector attached on one end.

Flexible fuel line (Earl's Ultrapro Hose)

We sistered a brace (manufactured by Mike) to the root rib in order to strengthen it because we needed to make some cuts in the rib to make room for the vent line.  The brace is epoxied in place, and a few rivets were added to keep it in place.  This brace may not have even been required since the fuel tank provides a lot of support at the root of the wing; but we figured it's better to be safe than sorry, so we added it.

Brace sistered to root rib

Next we epoxied (and screwed in) the aluminum vent fitting to the fiberglass tank.  This is a relatively large fitting, but it allows us to install a larger finger-strainer, and still accomodate 1/2" tubing which is recommended for venting the header tank to the wings when using a  Rotax 912is engine.  We used Hysol 9460 epoxy which is fuel resistant. Hours: 4.0

Vent line fitting (finally) installed