Storing Fuel Tanks

In the September issue of "@ Club" Windy Urtnowski, describing what he does to put up planes for the winter, says: "I always fill the tank with fuel and cap off all the vents - - this makes the first flight in spring a lot more reliable and makes tanks last indefinitely. I still have serviceable tanks after 10 seasons!"
Does anyone have any comments about this suggestion? What do you do to keep tanks, especially metal tanks, from deteriorating over the winter? With clunk tanks, would not a good washing and thorough rinsing make more sense?
Thanks for your thoughts on this.

Peter:

Winfred offers fairly sage advise here. I have witnessed him grabbing a plane that hadn't for two years, uncapping the tank vents and simply starting it. The first tank is a might "off" because there is slight evaperation of the alcohol, but subsequent flights have been trouble free.

Jim Greenaway suggested this tto the bagwan, I would imagine.

It's sound.

See Ya

Peabody

See Ya

>In the September issue of "@
>Club" Windy Urtnowski, describing what
>he does to put up
>planes for the winter, says:
>"I always fill the tank
>with fuel and cap off
>all the vents - -
>this makes the first flight
>in spring a lot more
>reliable and makes tanks last
>indefinitely. I still have
>serviceable tanks after 10 seasons!"

I think this is a good idea if you have long down-times (like this "winter" thing I sometimes hear about). The real degeneration seems to be caused when the tubes are alternately exposed to air and evaporated fuel.

I don't usually have more than a month where I don't fly, so I just hang it up as is. I have opened up tanks that are 10-15 years old, and they are fine, as long as you used copper tubes.

If you want to buy insurance, then Windy's practice is the way to go.

If you buying hope, I have had or bought castored-up tanks that haven't seen a sucking engine on the business end of the pickup for decades. I squirt a little carb cleaner (using the skinny "straw" that fits in the nozzle), and a little (or maybe a lot) of green bilge comes out. Blow on the vents to see if all is clear, and you're ready to go.

Or, sometimes I just skip the entire process if the vents are clear. Just fuel and go.