During discussion with Gus, Van's Builder Support, we concluded the very slow leak must be due to a "porous" balloon. So I replaced the latest balloon, and 2 hrs later -- NO Change. So apparently all along the leak was from the balloon skin (permeable). Note: this happened with 2 prior balloons on the LH Tank - but not on the RH Tank.
 |
| Extra balloon as reference... both stayed fully inflated 2 hrs |
I re-installed the fuel tank. It was much easier than I'd imagined. The dimpled holes around the perimeter aligned readily, and the bolt holes also matched up. I'm only about 1/2 done "screwing", but it feels good to be over this hurdle. Since you can't reach approx 50% of the rivets and joints on the QB Wings w/ tanks pre-installed, I needed to be sure there were no leaks.
 |
| Note boards under cradles to lift tank to Spar to re-attach |