Look at those Tanks!

Tuesday 8th July

Unpacked, examined and stored pre-built tanks

Evan Johnson built my tanks! There, I said it and you know what, I don't care. In fact, EVAN JOHNSON BUILT MY TANKS AND I AM PROUD!

My esteemed Inspector highly recommended this course of action because of the number of cases he has come across of difficult leaks - during construction and also during operation. Having lost more time than I had planned to the recent home remodelling project, I was happy to recover a lot of it in this way. I should now be back on schedule and finish my wings comfortably by the end of the year.

Vans themselves used to offer this option but they now only pre-build tanks as part of a QB wing order. Evan currently charges $975 for the RV-9 tanks. Then there is the shipping cost in both directions to/from Vans and the onward shipping to you will also be a little more as there is now the weight and volume of a third crate, even though the main crate is a little lighter (not smaller).

Vans offered me the facility of taking payment and passing it on to Evan so I did not have to pay him directly.

How it works is that you tell Vans to ship the tank parts to Evan and he ships the finished tanks back to Vans where they join the rest of the wing kit for shipping on to you. He also builds a very nice shipping crate for each tank, lined with polystyrene sheeting so they arrive exactly as they left him. You need to give Evan time to do his thing. I think three months is about right but it has been much longer in the past so check with him in case his lead time has shortened further.

He recommends some extras, such as the delux fuel caps and the fancy screened fuel pick-ups. I agreed to both of these options. Of course you also have to decide on capacitance vs float fuel level senders (I went with floats as I believe the capacitance ones give different readings with different fuel types and I would like to operate on both mogas and avgas). He will also ask you to get Vans to include a quart of tank sealant.

If I was doing it again, I would probably go for the new Andair caps, which are probably better again than the delux models. These fit the original (non-delux) Vans body so it is an upgrade you can make later. However, with the Vans delux model, you get two extra lock bodies for canopy latch and ignition so you only carry one key and you can't refuel with the engine running (as if you would!)

The workmanship is first class. Check these pictures against most other builders' websites and you can see the difference straight away. The most obvious difference is that Evan has obviously sold his soul to somebody he shouldnt, in exchange for the sacred knowledge of how to do tank sealant neatly. Just as importantly, you will never see better riveting. However, just as Persian rug makers deliberately include a mistake in their delicate patterns because only God is capable of perfection, I noticed just one rivet marked "oops".

Evan is also an RV-10 builder and he loves to talk RVs or any other aviation topic. I am very happy that I have chosen this option and I can thoroughly recommend Evan.