How to add "Feeder Tanks" to Nitro Powered RC airplanes, plus demo flight with Aeromaster.
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- Опубліковано 10 лют 2025
- Clunk Fuel tanks sometimes suck air instead of fuel at certain attitudes, so I added a Feeder tank and explain how that works every time. Most often found on helicopters, this is a foolproof way to get every last drop out of your main tank without the engine quiting if it gets a little too much air.
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Dave Herbert
~NightFlyyer~Tm
AMA L-8221
Leader Member/Contest Director/Scientific Div.
Very Nice! I really enjoy ENYA engines also. Thanks for the video.
Thanks very kindly. Happy flying.
We used to do that with our SIG Fazer and some of the more acrobatic RC planes and it seems to work great!
Yes, and it also works on my helicopters very well. Never an engine out no matter what the attitude. Here is the latest video of it, now that I changed the engine on my Aeromaster. ua-cam.com/video/xtSptYMLlQk/v-deo.html Still after the flight, the sub tank is full. Thanks much.
awesome idea..an flight👍
Thanks so kindly!
Good explanation on the feeder tank. I hear many planes start to starve upon doing stunts,anyone doing stunts should think about doing this. I think putting a long copper or brass line in the tank helps keep the line straight in the tank helps,I have seen that done before. The feeder tank works great even though it looks funny.Working with small engines,I see fuel filters fall off the intake line on weed wackers all the time,the fuel causes the lines to deteriorate fast. I usually see the lines break right at the tank because the chemical reaction attacks the line most right at the tank line,it may be the ethanol attacking the line too. Leaving old fuel in any small engine now days usually requires a carb rebuild and new lines. Nice flying,great landing,for you and the pilot of the private plane.
That reminds me of the birthday boy that threw-up in the bipe, in the movie; Space Cowboys by Clint Eastwood. Loop-d-loop and you proved your point that the Feeder tank supplied a constant flow of fuel. Great work Space Cowboy, flying like a maniac then making a perfect landing to boot without any mishap..!
Can you show how is the tank attached to the side of the airplane?
Nice flying, that airplane carries a lot of momentum, tons of torque.
Nice flight and interesting tip, thanks for the video Dave!
Thanks Don, I appreciate that.
commander always with incredible videos. congratulations. thank you very much.
Thanks kindly David!
lovely flight and Airfield. :)
I recently built a hopper tank for my jet engine, these are some nice looking tanks. Although I use a bubble style clear PET bottle the principle is the same. never seen it used on a small model like this. but great idea! nice flying field you got there too!
Thank you Chris!
That was great flying. I need a bladder/ feeder on my edge 540 and T-34. I can't do cuban 8's without the engine quitting and having to land👍
Thanks. If you put one on, you will never have to worry about that again. Happy flying~!
love your videos Sir. thanks again for all you do.
Thanks much Chris. I appreciate that.
An Enya engine....so this fuel delivery system could be called the Orinoco Flow :)
I understand it all and see it can save a lean out, I just didnt see that a clunk wouldnt move in a small tank. Thank you
Mr Dave I'd like to pick your brain i've got a Corsair and the tank is higher than the carb I haven't inverted 4 stroke i'm thinking maybe if I had that second tank lower it wouldn't flood the carburetor I don't know how to lower the tank unless I build a custom one wouldn't be the first time just wanted to know what your thoughts were if you've ever run into that So again it's a stroke glow upside down and and the tank is limited is limited where I can get the height I don't know if it would pay to put the front of the tank down but I'm sure that just like water will it will find its level so I wondered if a two tank situation would fix it thanks in advance best regards Larry Welle
I sure understand that. Inverted engines get flooded and you cant even turn the prop. I just changed the engine on this Aeromaster to a Saito 100 4 stroke, but I mounted it cylinder up. I am still using the feeder tank you see in this video. A feeder tank is great, and only needs to be 1 ounce in size. I think if it was lower, than the main tank, it will still feed fuel, however and may not be of any help. Maybe try a mock up, using a couple of tanks. The thing is, that when the fuel starts to flow down, it begins siphoning and keeps going. In some of my planes, I put a small clip to close off the fuel to the carb. Then when I am ready to start, I unclip it and go. You need fuel all the time to the carb and that is a good thing, but not when it is just sitting there filling up the cylinder. In my old Nitro Powered F-16, the engine was inverted and it would only start when I turned the plane upside down, which was a pain. Good luck with it. Sorry I can't help much.
@@NightFlyyer Mr Dave thanks for replying but after producing the Internet I place the engine at the 9 o'clock position which kept the carburetor higher then the outlet of the tank so I'm sure that's gonna fix the issue that Corsair has a big cowling another Corsair I have is a 20CC size but it's gasoline and it's not an issue to invert the engine thanks again
Hi guys... super awesomeness vid.. have to say i had the idea of adding a fuel tank extra. But after i have my solo. So questio , if its not much, please can you make a video for me where you do solo.. figure 8, taking off a landing a what ever yoh guys do when the instructor takes you to get your solo.. in SA we do Solo.. its bronze
Next time I fly something, I will try to do that. Thanks so kindly and fly easy.
the other additional tank doesn't have to have clunk? thank you for your reply sir.
No clunk needed. I put mine fuel line short and in the middle of the tank. The feeder tank is always full, so no air ever gets in. Thanks and happy flying.
Not strictly true Nightflyer. When in a dive, the tank's clunk is sucking air which it will transfer to the header tank. The secret is the straight header pickup pipe to the centre of the tank avoids the ever increasing bubble which sticks to the upper edge. This bubble shouldn't ever get big enough during the short duration of a model flight to effect it....👍
You are the man!!another awsume video!!!
Interesting idea, I had the same issue once. How I fixed mine was to put a 'Y' in the tank with the pickup tube, having the regular pickup at the rear and the 'Y' grabbing fuel from the front of the tank.
Dear Sir, Your video interests me ... Kaos 40 .. The Tank Is Under The Carburetor Axis ... The Engine In The Classic Pattern is not quite consistent ... please can you tell me this system of the video! thank you very much Jan.
To keep the air from ever getting to the carb in the fuel line, anywhere you can put the feeder tank will work. It can be only as big as 1/2 to 1 ounce. As long as you have muffler pressure, your engine run will be perfectly consistent. Kaos 40's and 60's were great airplanes. Good luck with it, Jan.
If feeder stays completely full I can see it work well. Its new to me. I may have to try.
Try a felt clunk Dave. They stay wet and also soak up every drop of fuel in the tank....Also they will eliminate any air bubbles and should stop the dive issues so no need for a header tank :)
Maybe so, but if the clunk is up in the air part of a half empty tank in a full power dive, as I showed, I doubt it would help. Besides, this was much easier than removing the radio, servos, and battery to get the tank out, let alone trying to re string the tubeing in this ole Aeromaster with the engine in. These feeder tanks are what we use on helicopters too and they never fail. Thanks for the suggestion.
Been pondering on this and if there is no clunk in feeder you cant use all the fuel and as long as main tank still has fuel engine would not starve in a dive with a clunk in feeder.
The feeder line is always in the fuel, no matter what the position of the plane and does not need a clunk. The feeder tank always remains completely full as long as the main tank has fuel. I don't make this up, and only do what works for me, and this works.
It seems the no hose on feeder would starve an engine in hover unless maybe straight back halfway in tank?
It works fin in hover, as the feeder is always full.
What brand of scanner are you using to monitor the air traffic?
Great video as always. Thanks Dave
I had a CG Super chipmunk With a webra speed and tuned pipe that I installed a header tank on. A bubble would cause it to lean and burn out an $8 glowplug when $8 was a lot of money. The header tank stopped the air bubbles into the fuel At the time it was the fastest plane around.
hey how big is the runway out there it looks like it's big enough for a full scale to land in
for the feeder tank system to work as designed. the clank tank fuel must never be completely used up. if not the plane has to land deadstick 😁
wont the fuel in a dive, go right to the back of the tank due to g force so the clunk in the "clunk" tank always be in fuel unless its gone? thats wthe whole point of a clunk, will get fuel in any attitude right???
No. The feeder tank is always full and the pickup tube always sucks fuel. In the old days, the surgical tubing used was very flexible and the clunk would fall to the front of the tank, but todays silicone tubing does not and stays at the back of the tank and in a dive, it sucks air. I just flew my big Cub in a video I made yesterday and after the flight, you can see the feeder tank is still full.
Great video, can you tell me what RC plane that is?
Thanks. This is a Lou Andrews aircraft called the Aeromaster.
Good evening David. I have a question, reason being that I am building a SBD Dauntless with air breaks, and I plan to use the air breaks and dive a lot. ;).
It appears from the drawing at 1:30 that the flow from the main tank is through the long tube that goes to the top of the feeder tank, and the engine draws from the short tube the ends right inside of the feeder tank. That is how it appears to me.
So, each long dive will have air in the clunk tube, and that air will be trapped in the back end of the feeder. When the plane levels from the dive, the bubble will now float to the top of the feeder.
Each time you do a dive, the bubble will get larger and larger.
Now, it seems that after several dives, if you pull a vertical climb, that (now large-ish) bubble will float to the top (i.e. front) of the feeder, which now has the engine pick-up tube at the top... = dead engine. :(((.
It would seem that the engine pick-up tube should extend to the center of the feeder tank, so the bubble will not come in contact with the pick-up tube opening until the bubble is aprox 1/2 the volume of the feeder.... or have I missed something??
Yes, you're right Paul. The header pick up tube in the tank should be just a straight tube to the centre, that way the header bubble will always cling to the upper edge and the carb should have a constant supply.
My Acrowot suffers from air in it's pickup line if I keep the throttle high on dives. Resulting in spluttering and a possible cut. I'm thinking of making a small brass
heaer tank for it....👍
but if you had a clunk in feeder you could use all that fuel up too and extend flight a few minutes. I dont see an advantage of no clunk in feeder?
You dont get it. Ill try one more time. Main tank clunks do not fall forward in dives, like they used to when very flexible surgical tubing was used and they went everywhere in the tank. Since they stick in the tank end, they suck air, killing the engine in a dive. The small tank is always full and never can suck air, no matter what the position of the airplane. You could put a clunk in there, but it would not move, with the stiff silicone used today. I know you don't get it, but us long time pilots have used this setup for many many years on helis and planes.
What model of plane was that
The Biplane is a Lou Andrews Aeromaster Too.
2 problems with those old airplane designs: 1) No hatch or access to the fuel tank. 2 ) Illustrate upright engine installations typically. The centerline of the tank should be on the same plane as the carburetor. The R/C community could learn a lot from the Control line community. Too bad they typically do not respect one another. Tank height is critical.
Your header tank did perform well, even though I felt it may have been too low, but I came here to get tips on header tanks, as I have no experience with them in this fashion, and plan to use one on an upcoming model. So the problem is, you may have solved your problem, but now how do you get it in the plane? Looks like you will have to cut in a hatch regardless.
Good luck, and thanks for the video.
Thanks. I guess it wasnt so bad for over 40 years old, as I placed in the top 4 every year I flew them in the National Multiwing Championships. Thanks.
Header tank you mean?
Either way, it means the same.
"Full size" airplane? Maybe quarter scale!
When I finish and send you a diesel engine I will send a airless fuel pouch with it so you never have a fuel starvation issues
I don't think that was fair, you were in the air first. Just kidding . good video