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 Sailplane Construction Project Session #4

I received the new fuel tank shown below in the mail yesterday for the Sailplane from BRODAK'S catalog. It is identical to the one in my big bomber, except it does not have the word "Perfect" stamped on the end of the tank. 
 
 
My first task was unsolder and remove all of the copper tubing from the tank. I made four mounting flanges and soldered two thin brass mounting flanges to each side of the tank as shown below, using a jig of course.
 
 
This picture shows all four of the tank mounting flanges soldered in place.
 
 
The T-mounts were marked and drilled for the holes in the flanges and screws were used to mount the tank to the bottom of the T-mounts as shown below.
 
 
This shows the position of the tank mounted at the rear and just below the engine. The tank's vertical position is dictated by clearances of the rear rotor shaft extending out of the rear of the back plate. 
 
 
Notice the 1/4" plywood spacers behind the T-mounts. I need to determine how thick the spacers should be to allow an 1/8" wire landing gear to be mounted between the back of the tank and the firewall. My next task will be to determine the position of the T-mounts on the firewall that keeps the fuel tank inside the cowl contour and then to drill the holes for the T-mounts in the firewall and put in blind nuts....................................Tandy


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