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On an overseas trip I talked to a pilot in Venezuela about hios fuel caps. His Archer was in impecable condition but the caps on the wing tanks had been modified to include a stainless steel plate with an eyelet attached to the tank collar and another plate bolted to the cap with a matching eyelet. Both eyelets came together behind the cap so that he could put a tie wrap through them. He told me that even with a closed hangar, there is a big problem with people stealing aviation fuel. He did have small padlocks he would put on the caps, (which I expect he removed before flight), but the determined thief made a royal mess of the wings in the process of breaking the assembly to get access to the fuel. Very expensive to repair, much more expensive than gas, so he now uses the tie wraps. They do not deter theft, they are easy to cut and it does not damage the tanks when the tieves open them. It is sufficient to let him know someone has been at his fuel tanks again, so he drains the tanks to make sure there is nothing but fuel or air in them. He also has an arrow painted on the tank going from the cap round the front of the wing to the drain on the bottom, but the thieves havs not figured out that there are drains on the bottom yet and still syphon out the gas. I guess they grew up "working" cars...
Alan Fairclough
N87333
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