Fuel tank leak

[flashfly]

Never thought about the exhaust gases scenario. If serious enough this is a grounding event in other words. I plan to fly her to Sa Mooney from pta. Figured it will cost me less in the long run to use Sa Mooney than repeated visits to an Amo that doesn't specialize on the aircraft. A lot of blue marks underneath the left wing but no visible dripping. Nonetheless I have lost pounds of fuel. Thanks for the advise everyone. I have dreaded this day, it arrived sooner than I thought. Then again, it's done well as a 35yr old aircraft.

[Lood]

Hi FF, you won't regret it. I was losing fuel to the tune of 25 liters a week from full to half. Only then would it settle, so I could never leave my Mooney standing with more than half tanks of fuel. This became a real issue when flying to far off destinations with the option to refuel.
Mine also started leaking into the cockpit, behind the front seats. The carpet was stained and the fuel smell inside the cabin got unbearable. All that is gone now and like I said, I can fill the tanks until they are just about to overflow and except for venting through the overflows when standing outside on a very hot day, the level stays 100% on the mark.
On my F, this means that I can carry an actual quantity of 258 liters, instead of the published 242 and that extra 16 liters will extend my flying time with almost 25 extra minutes, or almost 50nm at normal power settings.

[andrem]

Hi Nick,

Sorry to hear about that! Mine was completely stripped and sealed last year too - both tanks. I witnessed some of the work being done and can tell you that shortcuts should be avoided - having fuel leaking where exhaust gasses are blowing is no joke.

You can also try Eric Cook down towards Cape Town and make a holiday of it . Although I suppose can be said of SA Mooney in East London.

Apologies - make that Port Alfred