It Was The Pump, And The Pump Alone!

Today I put the new fuel pump in and hooked it back up to the lines. I didn't tie it down all the way and used clecos to hold the shelf down for a first trial run.

I filled another gallon of gas into the tank, opened the valve and flipped the switch. Whoosh! A strong stream of gas was rushing into the canister underneath the gascolator. What a beautiful sight! No hesitation, no fuzz, just pure gas and a lot of it.

The 1-gallon drain test was done in around 120 seconds. It ended so abruptly that I had a hard time finding the stop button on the watch (or the cell phone for that matter).

I checked the pump fittings and found no leaks and finalized the pump installation, riveting the shelf back to the belly skin and reconnected the pushrods to the torque tubes.

Then I closed up the panels in the baggage area and put the seats back in.

What is left is to close up the belly access panels and then reinstall the cowls. A ground test run will follow and then ... maybe some flying!