JT’s miscellaneous updates #4 - Relief tubes

As an aside, most of the future updates on this blog were done nearly two years ago, during the first wave of the 2020 pandemic, and have already been test flown successfully many times, up until issues with the Ellison TBI forced me to ground JT, and upgrade to a bonafide fuel injection system (still in progress as of this writing).

But let’s look at this so important mod in the making (stay until the end for a video on the finished system).

Luckily for me, JT’s birth father (Terry) had already done most of the difficult plumbing for this, from the cockpit and backseat down both gear legs, so all I had to come up with were the very beginning and termination points.

Starting up top, I used two funnels sold by Aircraft Spruce, and a soft rubber hose to connect to JT’s existing plumbing. I also designed , and 3D printed a clip to hold the funnel in place during flight. The clip fits right over an existing cable tie anchor mount.

3D printed ABS funnel holder and cable tie anchor

How it's supposed to fit

Cable tie anchor mounts on nose wheel cover

Funnel holder in place

After a bit of testing inside the cockpit, I chose to attach the clip to the nose wheel fairing because it is easily accessible by the pilot in flight by feel alone, it keeps the funnel and hose out of sight, and this area was previously going unused.

Funnel held in the stored position

 

Keeping the hose out of sight was important as not to make the entry and exit out of the cockpit any more difficult than it already is. To that extent, I decided to cut the hose, and use a couple of 90º elbows to conform to the existing structure without kinking the soft hose.

Can you even see the relief hose?

Had to be creative with the routing

A couple of 90º elbows helped a bunch

You can see the tan hose going into a white elbow, then the blue adapter hose into JT's drain tube.

Keeping a down slope on the hose at all time is of paramount importance for proper drainage of course. The faster the drainage, the less the chances of the stuff freezing in the hoses, and creating backup problems. If you know what I mean?

 

Even though only a tiny portion of the front hose is visible, I painted it black to make it even more difficult to see.

Testing hose and paint

Relief hose new color scheme

Hose is even harder to notice now

Out back, the original hose ended abruptly above the disk brakes. Here too I tried a variety of possible solutions, like going straight down using a quick-connect coupling and a straight length of hose, but I thought the heat from the brakes might end up causing problems.

One of the many relief hose ending iterations

Perhaps a little too close to the tire as well

 

In the end, I opted for a further aft exit out of the rear wheel pant. The plastic tube was cut at a 45º bias facing backward to elicit a slight vacuum, and assist gravity in flight.

Home Depot or Lowes find

Hose bending jig

This hose is pretty darn stiff

Note the 45º cut at the end

A little heat calmed the hose down in a hurry

Cold compressed air stiffened it back up in the new shape

The jig allowed for two identical hoses

A 3D printed doughnut was glassed over the exit hole (not shown here)

Left wheel pant after the mod

Right wheel pant

Offset from the tire in order to be in clean airstream

45º cut to create a slight draw

Both wheel pants in the hangar, ready to go fly.

The inflight portion of the testing consisted of Chris Cleaver flying in close formation while I poured water from a bottle in the funnel, and verifying the ChemTrail.

Funny thing is now that I can go anytime I want, I hardly have any trouble holding it. Power of the subconscious I suppose.

I did however have to use it on a flight, and boy did that feel good! Ask me sometime about the many close calls of the past, a few of which are pretty hilarious. For those without this mod, let’s just say that sometimes what comes out of a bottle might one day be less than what one tries to put back in it! Forewarned is forearmed.

Best of all, it’s out of sight and out of mind when not needed.

This mod definitely earns “Marco’s two thumbs up” award.