After a good discussion on the Bearhawk eGroup I've decided to have aux tanks. It wasn't my original intent so it took some time considering what I need to do. Since I bought my main tanks from AviPro I thought this might be a good project to do myself for the benefit of learning something new. I first needed to find someone that would be willing to help me and was lucky to find just the right person.
After putting together a material list I placed the order. The aux tanks will need a 4' x 6' sheet of .050 5052 H-32. Since the piece has to ship flat I ordered 2 sheets to have some extra on hand (in case I screw up!)
It was helpful having the AviPro tanks and I noticed they made them a little differently that the procedure in Bear Tracks. In Bear Tracks the top and bottom skins were 2 pieces but the AviPro tanks were one piece. That seems like a good idea with less welding. Also, they did not cleco the main skins to the ends, only the center baffles.
Following their example I cut and formed the ends and I made the skin in one piece. I made a master form from MDF just like the wing rib master form. I bent the main skin on the 36" brake after marking the bend directly off the end pieces.
