anofly wrote: ↑Mon Feb 15, 2021 1:21 am
Thanks all. Plenty of POH's have numbers that are difficult to hit wrt speed, so thats a given.
It never comes right out and says it yet(i have not read whole manual) but this kinda fuel injection always has a bleed or whatever back to mains? If you run mains down first, flip to aux, the extra fuel heads and starts to refill mains? does it say that out loud ? I have not got to the end of the manual yet....
Need to understand boost pumps and priming better too. but I will keep reading! Thanks
The C310R has 2 main tip tanks (50 USG) and 2 aux tanks (31.5 USG) in the outer wings. Some airplanes also have 1 or 2 nacelle fuel tanks (20 USG each).
The engines get more fuel than they use so the excess gets returned to the main tank. If you are feeding from the aux it will appear that the fuel level is decreasing more quickly than expected. This because the return fuel is filling the mains so the main fuel levels will increase. Therefore never use the aux until the mains are at or below 35 gals so there is room for the return fuel.
Of note you can only cross feed from the mains so in the event of an engine failure the fuel in the aux on the dead side is not available, therefore you should use your aux fuel first. Don’t let the main get almost empty before switching to the aux.
The nacelle tanks pump directly into the main. The pump needs fuel for lubrication so don’t run the transfer pump when the tank is empty
If you have only one nacelle tank go to cross feed to balance the tip fuel as soon as you start transferring fuel ( level flight only)
The tip tanks have a dedicated fuel pump to transfer fuel from the back of the tank to the front to prevent fuel unporting at high pitch angles. This pump is protected by the landing light circuit breaker. Do not fly the airplane with a popped landing light CB.
The capitance type fuel gauges are quite accurate if properly set up. Compare the fuel truck meter reading with what each tank took on your first fill up to see how good the ones on your airplane are.
If you are want full mains and aux tanks, fill the aux first. The aux is 2 interconnected bladders and the interconnection may not keep up with the fuel going in. The aux tank may look full but if you recheck it after filling the tip you will be able to top it up again
The fuel caps on the tanks need a good O ring and be properly adjusted. The handle should require a good force to close it but you should not have to hammer it with your hand to get it to close or need a tool to pry it open. Badly fitted caps or ones with deteriorating seals will allow water to get into the tank when it rains.
The book says if there is no water present at the main fuel drain then you can go but I do all the drains on the first flight of the day
For a quick and dirty flight plan fuel estimate I used 30 gals per hour.
I found that the airplane ran smoother at lower RPM’s. At altitude I usually used 23 in and 2200 RPM and got around 165 kts TAS
As LC pointed out if you are going into a short strip you do not want waste runway. If you are new to the airplane practice on normal runway first before going into a short strip. Otherwise my personal preference on normal length paved runways was to leave a little bit of power on in the flare. I found that with airplane in the landing attitude that little bit of power caused it to settle in to a nice smooth landing, however you do use a bit of extra runway with this technique.
Virtually all of my short rough strip work was in Navajo’s but my C300 and C400 flying was corporate so we were almost always working out of paved runways with ample length, so I defer to his experience .
Like many things in aviation there is often more than one right way to do things so I would suggest that you figure out what works for you by trying different techniques on a normal length runway.