Calibrate your RV-10 fuel level checking dipstick

I always manually check fuel levels before a flight, and I wanted to get a clear plastic fuel level checking straw for my RV like I have for my club's Cessna 172. Unfortunately I couldn't find one off-the-shelf that was calibrated for an RV-10, so I decided to make my own.

I drained the left tank completely dry and filled it up 5-gallons at a time till full, then marked off the levels on a dipstick. I then bought a universal Fuelhawk brand fuel checking straw and transferred the markings. These are the numbers I came up with:

Gallons, Inches from the bottom
5, 0 (didn't register)
10, 1-3/8"
15, 2-5/8"
20, 3-7/8"
25, 5-5/16"
30, 7-11/16"

If anyone else has done this please share your numbers, I want to see how they compare to mine. Thanks.

Dip stick

+1 on this. I always dip the tanks on the club planes and plan to do so on th -10. I've never trusted fuel indicators, they are only right twice if lucky ( full and empty) floats stick.

I bought a Fuel Stik for the RV-10, http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/pspages/rvfuelstik.php at this past OSH, but I keep forgetting about it and it's still sitting on the shelf in my hangar. I just need to remember the next time I'm out there to pull it out and start the validation process.

NOTE: To be honest I rarely depart with less than full tanks, so the need to dip for me is pretty minimal which is likely why I haven't gotten around to trying to use the stiks.

I did the same about six years ago. I was religious about checking the levels with it for awhile. Then I realized that the floats and fuel sensor are pretty accurate during the last half of tank. I don't fly where my fuel levels ever get critical. I have it if I need it, but I haven't used it quite a while.

I also made my own "Fuel Hawk" style dipsticks for my RV-10. I just bought some clear acrylic tubing from AS&S, cut it to length, and marked it every 2.5 gallons as I filled the tanks. I measured each mark and wrote it down. When I was done, I remarked the tube with the measurements and chucked it in my lathe and put a shallow V groove at each mark. I made two while I was at it. I then used my small number stamps and heated the tip to melt the gallons at each mark. The melting was just so so,,,, on the second stick I engraved the gallon markings with a vibrating engraver and liked that better. I then filled the groves and gallon markings with some black 2 stage polyurethane paint. The fuel never dissolved that stuff. Make sure you calibrate the stick filling both tanks at the same time, otherwise you can get really off on the calibration as the tank dips down with weight and the wing dihedral messes with the calibration. You should do the same calibrating your fuel senders. I ALWAYS dipped my tanks during pre-flight!

I?ve never dipped.

The accuracy of my GRT fuel ?totalizer? was a revelation. Cross checks using both the tank floats and the totalizer has proved more than sufficient.

However as many others have found, the totalizer needs to located some distance from the boost pump. Otherwise the fuel flow will be inaccurate while the pump is running. I relocated it and find it to be dead nuts accurate (and well cross checked with the Vans floats).