"Lou" wrote in news:1175345472.846862.235410
@p15g2000hsd.googlegroups.com:

I've started to mount the fuel tanks in my project. It is a plans
built wooden aircraft.
The plans called for retractable gear that I decided I didn't want on
my first plane, so
instead Ive made fuel tanks to go in this area of the wing. I have
been making brackets
when a freind said that his understanding was that the tanks had to be
held in by straps
not brackets. Would anyone like to share their knowledge?
Lou

Yes, my project has wood wings and the plans call for two 1 inch wide
straps to surround the entire tank, top and bottom with the straps
bolted to the spars. A turnbuckle type arangement on the top tensions
the straps and suspends the tank above the floor area between the spars.
Makes sense to me. A bracket welded or riveted to a tank is going to be
but under a lot of stress when the airpalne's maneuvering with a lot of
fuel in the tank. Not to mention vibration and what not work hardening
the lot. Makes sense to me to strap it in anyway.. Airplanes that have a
flange around the tank, like a Cherokee, for instance, have a very large
area to distribute the load. that'd mean drilling a lot of holes and
some fairly substantial brackets for your wood winged airplane..