Ezflyr
Well-Known Member
Hi All,
I've been wanting to make a Fuel Tank Dip Stick for my J3 for a while now, and I finally got around to starting this project! Part of the delay was available time due to other projects, and part was due to my OCD which wouldn't tolerate an old paint stirrer marked up with ball point pen!
I'm an electronic designer, and regularly design and fabricate printed circuit boards, so it seemed like PCB fabrication techniques might be a good way to proceed! A modern PCB is generally copper clad G-10 fiberglass, and most are coated with a corrosion resistant 'soldermask' and white silkcreen lettering, both of which seem impervious to any solvents I've ever tried, including gasoline and 100LL.
Attached are the front and back of the design I've come up with so far. Overall length is 18", and width is 1". There is a 1/4" hole at one end to attach a lanyard. Color will be flat black soldermask for easy viewing.
I realize that there may be some fuel level variation among various Cubs. I've checked the dimensions against three Cubs, and they are all the same, and also match data published here on the J3-Cub site, so I think this one is a good approximation for the fleet.
Once I finalize the design, I will have a bunch of these made up, and I will send one to anyone on the forum that expresses an interest!
Any feedback on the design? What should I change? What should I improve?
Thanks!
John
I've been wanting to make a Fuel Tank Dip Stick for my J3 for a while now, and I finally got around to starting this project! Part of the delay was available time due to other projects, and part was due to my OCD which wouldn't tolerate an old paint stirrer marked up with ball point pen!
I'm an electronic designer, and regularly design and fabricate printed circuit boards, so it seemed like PCB fabrication techniques might be a good way to proceed! A modern PCB is generally copper clad G-10 fiberglass, and most are coated with a corrosion resistant 'soldermask' and white silkcreen lettering, both of which seem impervious to any solvents I've ever tried, including gasoline and 100LL.
Attached are the front and back of the design I've come up with so far. Overall length is 18", and width is 1". There is a 1/4" hole at one end to attach a lanyard. Color will be flat black soldermask for easy viewing.
I realize that there may be some fuel level variation among various Cubs. I've checked the dimensions against three Cubs, and they are all the same, and also match data published here on the J3-Cub site, so I think this one is a good approximation for the fleet.
Once I finalize the design, I will have a bunch of these made up, and I will send one to anyone on the forum that expresses an interest!
Any feedback on the design? What should I change? What should I improve?
Thanks!
John
