[John McKenzie]

Hi all , John , yes , I thought I must have missed something when Joe posted about WWI systems not being up to serviceable standards..in view of previous postings ,..All in all ,it didn't seem so bad to me , but as John says , "once you get over the idea of preasurised system "...Don't forget , it had to carry a LOT of petrol to get the range ,which would not be necessary for todays useage, so perhaps you could dispence with one of the preasure tanks ...BTW , the overflow pipe comes out of the service tank at the front , goes slightly forward and then up* , over the L/E and back over the top center plane and discharges at the trailing edge ,(on the opposite side of C/L to the exhaust )....Ithink SE5a was similar in that fuel could be delivered to the motor either under preasure from the main tank , ahead of pilot , or from the header tank in the leading part of top C/S ,ahead of front spar ,(fed from main tank )...The main tank has a quantity gauge (Simms) , however the service tank has not ,.and this similarly discharges at T/E top wing , outboard of cockpit ...Many* preasureised systems that come to mind (in WWI ) on either side , seem to use the system in conjunction with a header or service /gravity feed.There are of course , many exceptions to this .Some use a mechanical air pump , while others have engine driven pumps .all (?) have a cockpit hand pump also, It is possible ! that both would fail at same time , but then , the idea of keeping the service tank topped up has the advantage here , at least to get you down safely ...Regards* ..John.