On Aug 25, 7:36*am, a wrote:
On Aug 25, 9:12*am, Ricky wrote:

On Aug 23, 8:17*am, Robert Moore wrote:

Jeeze...damn amateurs.......
Jeeze...grumpy, retired, ex-military, old men.......lighten up. Your experience and knowlege is very valuable here, but it would be much more well received with some grace and kindness.
Bob Moore
P-3B

P-3, huh? I am cutting my A&P teeth on a rehab of a P-3, which is what
my company does. My first P-3 is about to take it's maiden flight
after a 3 year rebuild, and after we get all the tank leaks sealed
(again).

Ricky

The M20J is a wet wing tank sealed with something that was found to
like to disolve in what ever is added to 100 octane low lead. We had
to fix the leaks a couple of times in an early M20J, I expect the
problem has been solved a long time ago. What is the nature of the
leaks your P-3 has: inital sealant a little better than bubble gum?

Well, you may know the P-3 is a wet-wing also, with a wet belly tank,
too, just behind the bomb bay. The sealing procedure is very, very
extensive after all external and internal reapairs & work have been
done on the wings and belly. Every single Hi-Lok, rivet, Cherry-Max,
bolt, screw, plank, doubler, tripler, etc, etc. is a potential leak.
So, there are literally hundreds, perhaps thousands, of potential
escape routes for the Jet-A. The sealant we use is fine, great,
actually, but with so many potential leaks, it is simply impossible to
aassure the sealant job is leak-proof in every single place.
We pressurised the tanks for the first time 2 weeks ago & there were
several leaks, albeit small ones. This means we must find the leak,
then do a re-sealant job to that area. After two weeks we finally have
almost 100% integrity with the fuel tanks. We have started engine runs/
testing and the plane will go to the paint shop soon, then back into
service until the ancient (but wonderful) bird is retired or replaced
by 737s.

Ricky