Genghis
Many light Cessna aircraft e.g 150/152 do not have a sump which always at the low point in the tank . Cessna introduced a mod probably over 20 years ago to increace the number of tank drain points to give a better chance of draining all the water. Few aircraft actually had it embodied.
Strangely the low point on the fuel system on some aircraft has a blanking cap and cannot be sampled from.
Checking the tank cap seals regularly and daily water drains is a must.
Commercial aircraft do not check the tanks for water after every refuel although helicopter pilots when refuelling at an offshore installation are usually shown a fuel sample by the refuelling crew. There have been several incidents where offshore fuel has been found to be contaminated.
For those lucky enough to be operating a gas turbine, Jet fuel also abscorbs water, hence the use of water detecting capsules as well as visual inspection of the drain fuel.
Last edited by ericferret; 2nd Jun 2013 at 13:54.