I am going to calibrate my fuel level readings on my Skyview tomorrow. I have read the manual and am sure of what I am doing - except for the final part. Lets say I am adding two gallon increments, but the last pour only allowed 1.4 gallons until full. What do I do about that? (Maybe when I get there in the actual calibration, it will tell me, but I want to be prepared.)
Fuel Levels Calibration
- Thread starter DonFromTX
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It will be obvious when you do it, but you put the 1.4 gallons in and hit "FULL" (because it's now full). The system knows your last pour is less than 2 gallons and does the right things.
K
KRviator
Guest
And make sure you exit back to your 'home' screen to save the calibration table. If you power down the screen before you do this, you will have to repeat the fuel cal. Ask me how I know... 
Thanks, I have absorbed that tidbit of information from lurking here, just hope I don't forget.
And make sure you exit back to your 'home' screen to save the calibration table. If you power down the screen before you do this, you will have to repeat the fuel cal. Ask me how I know...
Raymo
I love aviation!
I'll be calibrating mine this weekend as well. Hoping to fly the RV-7A in the next couple weeks (after transition training).
vlittle
Active Member
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???
The SV fuel calibration is only good for one aircraft attitude. For example, calibrating a tail dragger in 3-point attitude will give accurate indications on the ground, not so much in flight.
Conversely, calibrating a tail dragger in level attitude by jacking the tail will give more accurate in-flight readings, not so much on the ground.
I used the 3-point attitude for calibration because I want to know my take-off fuel and correlate this with the fuel computation from the SV. I also triple check with a dipstick.
It would be better to have both with the SV automatically using the aircraft's attitude to select the proper calibration, however, this still doesn't compensate for uncoordinated flight, aerobatics, etc. This makes the fuel flow computer the most accurate indicator, with the level gauges as a crude backup.
Human intelligence required.
Vern
Well it turned out to be a crappy morning. After patiently draining all the fuel and setting it up with 2 gallon increments, all was going fine (except my fueling pump would only suck or pump air, so the pouring begain).
I had gotten to 16 gallons, keeping notes to be sure I did not mess up - when all of a sudden the Skyview went black! Seems that even though I had a 9.5 amp charger on the battery, and the skyview says I was sucking only 5 amps, the battery went dead! That of course wiped out 3 hours of careful work, now I need to drain that out and start again. GRRRRRRRRR!
And I have to find out why the battery went dead when it should not have done that. I was not paying attention to the volts and amps since I THOUGHT I was in fine shape.
I had gotten to 16 gallons, keeping notes to be sure I did not mess up - when all of a sudden the Skyview went black! Seems that even though I had a 9.5 amp charger on the battery, and the skyview says I was sucking only 5 amps, the battery went dead! That of course wiped out 3 hours of careful work, now I need to drain that out and start again. GRRRRRRRRR!
And I have to find out why the battery went dead when it should not have done that. I was not paying attention to the volts and amps since I THOUGHT I was in fine shape.
Raymo
I love aviation!
Bummer, Don.
I was going to go that route too but a friend said it is much easier to push the plane to the fuel pump with someone inside the plane while the person fulling carefully stops at each step. I hope to have it done in 30 minutes or less.
I was going to go that route too but a friend said it is much easier to push the plane to the fuel pump with someone inside the plane while the person fulling carefully stops at each step. I hope to have it done in 30 minutes or less.
Don, If you are not already doing so, record each calibration point (fuel quantity) and sensor voltage at each point. For some reason my EMS 'forgot' the fuel calibration and I was able to re-enter the information without having to carry out a full calibration by defuelling then re-calibrating.
K
KRviator
Guest
Don't feel too bad, I did that too the first time I attempted the calibration. Then had to walk back across the airport to get to the car & drive it to the bowser. Then had to find a way to jump start the plane to get it back across the airport, then find a way to get back to the car. ;D
The second time, I turned off the master, as per the above caution, and lost the calibration. Third time I finally got it right.
swatson999
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I can see why this would be true for a float type sensor, but is it also true for a capacitive sensor? I have a 7A, so never had to deal with this issue, but just curious...
W
William_Ince
Guest
Too funny. ;D
Raymo
I love aviation!
Yes. The difference is that the capactive sensor provides more accuracy when the tank has more than 15 gallons of fuel (so I've heard). The float type top out well before the tank is full, apparently.
I would prefer the gauge read correctly in flight. Not terribly important when your feet are safely on the ground and a stick can be calibrated to provide the reading. (my 2 cents).
swatson999
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More accurate than the float type? That jibes with what I have heard. However, part of the appeal of the capacitive type is that they're pretty immune to attitude, because of the large plate on each end (and it's measuring capacitance between the plates, which is dependent on the total volume of air and fuel in between the two plates, regardless of orientation (e.g., you could fly knife-edge with all the fuel against one plate, the other completely uncovered, and it should read the same as when level).
So...is there a difference in capacitance between a tail-low and a level attitude? My initial thinking is that there should not be...
