purchase plane with dodge tanks?

[freestone]

Given I don't fly a cub very far, and always somewhat close to fuel, would a pa18 that had the 30.5 dodge tanks be disqualified? I think it is way too much fuel capacity for me. Maybe not on floats, but then I normally fly a Beaver for longer distances.

I don't like the worries of thinking about leaking, having too much fuel sloshing around, etc.

[CRANMAN]

Freestone,
A lot has been posted good and bad about the Atlee-Dodge tanks. The ones that have been installed correctly ie: rig the wings and then bed the tanks have had good luck. My PA-14 with the 30.5 tanks has been absolutely no problem. I rarely fly with the tanks full, but, on occasion, that extra fuel capacity comes in handy. I would not turn down a good cub with the big tanks. Good Luck!
Jon

[Crash]

Given you don't fly very far I'd pass on it. The lightest set up going are good old stock 18 gallon Piper tanks. If you do an occcasional long cross country I'd get a Firman pod and stick two or three, five gallon gas cans in it. Another option is the Firman combo pod with 23 gallons of fuel and 2/3 cargo. But with that you have to deal with a lift pump etc. Still like the flexability of an "all cargo" pod and a couple of gas cans for most trips. Crash

[Speedo]

Having the large tanks is a huge convenience. I don't notice the fuel sloshing when the tanks are low, and it sure is nice to be able to take on a big load of fuel when the price is right. My tanks have been in service for 800+ hours, and so far they've been trouble free.

[Jerry Gaston]

I think the best set up is bellie tank with fuel and storage. I've got the Landess bellie with 18 gal and 50# storage so I'm always using the pod for one or the other or both. But most of lmy time is flying with only the two wings tanks with 18 each.

[Dick Williams]

One thing to keep in mind is crashability. I don't know the record on cubs with belly tanks, but I know of a lot of airplanes with belly tanks (i.e. the Beaver) that have burned after crashing.
My Dodge tanks have 300 hours on them with no problems. I agree that the correct installation is key. I like 'em a lot.

[mvivion]

So, it's better to crash with 60 gallons of fuel over top of your head, with glass sight tube gauges than to have it outside the plane on the bottom?

A Cub with a belly tank is NOT like a Beaver with internal tanks under the floorboards.

Note that a few Cubs have suffered significantly less damage when a gear collapsed with belly tanks.

MTV

[sharp]

I still like my Dodge tanks. :roll:
Seems the Dodge tanks would weight less than having standard tanks plus a pod. It just comes down to how well you can manage the fuel volume. Is the system capable of really managing 60 gallons or in reality do you have more 'unreliable' volume than having smaller tanks and manually transferring from 5 gal tanks.

[Dick Williams]

Well, I didn't say THAT, Mike. Cubs burn a lot regardless, I was just bringing up the point. And you're right, you may get a lot less damage during a ground loop type accident.
BTW, enjoy reading your posts. I'm sure you don't remember me, but when I was the chief pilot for the BLM we did some spring training with smokejumper and lead pilots at Wainwright around '94 or so. You came up and gave a good survival presentation. Enjoyed it!
We get to PKD a few times a year. Are you near there?
Dick