How to prevent avgas drink in thirsty TDI?

[kent]

I am considering a diesel TDI. Among my greatest concerns is telling the FBO that JetA is needed but as you go about your business elsewhere the rampie assumes that the small aircraft is like all the others and so avgas is inadvertently filled into the TDI. There are no strut steps and I have never seen a ladder on the ramp excluding self-service avgas pumps. Assuming that avgas floats on jetA, a sump check would not reveal that the tanks could be filled with avgas. Floating avgas on top of jetA presents an extremely hazardous situation as the engine would stop with no hopes of restart. I imagine if fortunate enough to land at an airport the entire system would need to be flushed and perhaps many parts replaced.

Do I have this incorrect? Are there systems/methods of determining contaminated fuel in the TDI?

Thanks for any input! 

[swiftse3]

Kent,

I own an P2010 TDI, but have had it less than a year. I can't answer your question about determining whether the fuel is contaminated, but I can tell you about my experiences fueling the plane.

At my home airport, KERI (Erie PA), the FBO staff are very aware that I have a weird plane and I have no issues with any confusion.

The advice I received when I bought the plane was to always stay with the plane until the fuel truck arrived. On the rare occasion when I have bought fuel at other than my home airport, I have followed that advice.

Because of the range capacity of the plane, I rarely buy fuel away from home. Most of my trips are less than 2.5 hours each way, and starting with enough fuel for a 5 hour round trip is not a problem. The fuel flow readout on the G1000 typically reads 7.5 to 8 gph at 80%-85% power and 130kts TAS. But at the end of the day when I compare how much fuel I have used against the Flight Aware "time in the air" it averages under 7gph. So I often start my trips full of fuel, which works well with two people in the plane.

I like the way the FADEC makes controlling the power simple, and I like that the engine doesn't consume oil.

BUT no question that you need to be vigilant getting JET A and not AVGAS in the tank. Hope this helps a little.

[kent]

I did some reading. It seems the two fuels are similar enough that they actually mix. In this case if enough avgas was added to JetA the blue colorant could be visible. This does quell some of my concern. Swift, you have it right, vigilance is key.

[kent]

This is what I was able to find. www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/avgas-and-jet-a-contamination-results.74702/

With the future likely including JetA in small planes this presents a bit of a scare. Brighter minds than I hopefully will put some thought into this.

[bigmo]

When I was in college, I worked at an FBO doing line service. The FBO manager was a super squared away retired USAF mechanic that had a process for everything. We had a handful of fuel specific magnets with "Remove Before Flight" dangles attached. If a small turbine twin pulled up, the first thing we'd do is confirm fuel type, then place the "JET-A" magnet on both tank caps (the magnets stuck to the caps).

Your fear isn't new - we had a couple of B-18's that had turbines and more than once, they got 100LL when away from home. Those guys stole our sign idea and put the JET-A signs on the tanks when they got out of the aircraft.

I probably had 100 guys tell me how smart that was over the years - not that it was my idea lol.

[hopper313]

Fairly new TDI owner here. I travel to new airports regularly and agree with what swiftse3 said about not needing to purchase fuel given the aircraft's relatively low fuel consumption. My airplane came from the dealer with the most foolproof solution to this problem: locking fuel caps. The key stays with me and forces me to be present for any fueling event; just remember to keep them locked.

The TDI's looks also help in this regard as no line tech will mistake it for well... anything. They will scratch their heads, converse with their mates, and eventually come up asking what in the world that thing is.

[swiftse3]

Regarding hopper313 "what in the world..."
Pretty much every small airport I stop at, someone asks about the plane. Like driving an exotic car that folks aren't familiar with.
And be prepared if you use VFR flight following..."Uh, 54 Foxtrot Golf, please say aircraft type again and tell me the identifier"