Fuel & Magnetometer Calibrations (3)

3 hours

This was only marginally successful.  I spent a bunch of time putting gas in the tank one gallon at a time, trying to calibrate the fuel level probe with the G3X, but by the time I got to 5 gallons added, I realized I missed a step and never recalibrated the probe to zero after I trimmed it.  So I'll have to redo that.

While I had fuel in the tank though, I did do a preliminary fuel flow test.  I didn't have anything to raise the front of the plane with for now, so I just did the test in the normal ground attitude, which is 8.4 degrees nose up.  I disconnected the fuel line at the AeroInjector, put a gas can beneath it, and opened the fuel valve.  The G3X and FT-90 fuel flow transducer indicated around 29 gallons per hour with 5 gallons in the tank, and the flow rate gradually decreased to about 26 gph by the last half-gallon.  It took 11 minutes and 15 seconds to drain the 5 gallons, which averages out to about 27 gph, so the fuel flow sensor appears to be accurate.  The goal is for the fuel system to be able to provide 150% of what the engine would require at full power, so I wanted to see at least 15 gph.  This looks to be way better than that which is great, but I will try to redo the test later with the nose elevated further to make sure it can still meet the required flow rate in a climb attitude.

After that, I dragged the plane out of the hangar and out to and empty taxiway where there weren't any buildings or any other metal objects, and ran the magnetometer test within the G3X setup page.  It tells you to taxi around a compass rose, but I just used the compass on my phone to get the initial bearing and then moved the tail around when it told me to turn.  Eventually it had my gradually turn the plane around 720 degrees to the right, and then the magnetometer was all set.  Just looking at the orientation of the taxiway on the airfield diagram, and my phone compass, it appears to be correct!