This is clearly the case concerning the fuel selection arrangement on the Goose. One highly UNQUALIFIED voice claims that the mechanical fuel selector valve is superior to the electric solenoid valves I recommend be used on the plane. I do not, and never have said that the mechanical valves can not be used on the Goose. I also have never said that the mechanical valves are inherently dangerous. What I do say is that there are a LOT of really good reasons NOT to use the mechanical valves if you don’t have to, and there are a lot of really good reasons TO use the solenoid valves. I have written on this subject before, but I am going to cover it here again.

As with ANY small aircraft cockpit, there is a limited amount of space in the Glass Goose cockpit. That is the first limitation on where controls, instruments, and devices are located within the cockpit. In addition to the limitation on space, accessibility becomes a limiting factor also. If you can’t reach the flap handle because it is all the way across the cockpit under the passenger’s seat then it is not accessible is it?, and that is NOT a safe nor acceptable condition. Then the aspect of whether the device itself is accessible by the wiring or plumbing or cabling or whatever connects to it has to be considered. If it is in a place where it

In the case of fuel selector valves, accessibility and controllability by the pilot is of HUGE importance. The FAR’s (Federal Aviation Regulations) Part 23 are the regulations under which certified aircraft are inspected and approved. These regulations spell out almost exactly how accessible fuel selectors must be. You will NEVER get in a fully certified aircraft in which the fuel selector is not in plain view and READILY accessible by the pilot under all conditions and clearly placarded. Unfortunately, FAA designees and inspectors are not required to fully apply Part 23 to Experimental aircraft. As a result, you can put the fuel selector valve so far behind the seat you can’t reach it (John Denver), or in a place that you have to let go of the control stick to operate it, and your plane will probably pass inspection anyway!

In the case of the mechanical fuel selector, a number of these criteria become obvious problems right away. Just where are you going to put the selector valve where you can access it with your left hand readily? Yes, I said your LEFT hand. It has to be readily accessible to your left hand because your right hand HAS to be able to stay on the control stick. And you can’t cheat. You can’t twist or otherwise contort your body to get to the valve with your left hand because that will destroy your ability to operate the control stick in a true and correct manner. You must be able to reach and operate that control valve while sitting straight in the seat in the normal position. Anything else and you are fooling yourself. This totally precludes placing the valve in the center of the seatback between the pilot and co-pilot. Placed there, the pilot has to twist his body to try to turn the valve and that interferes with controlling the plane.  Pilots that have a little extra "heft" around their middle would have to twist more than the skinny guys, but even for skinny guys this is unacceptable. If you accept this kind of half ass’d setup, you are not a safe builder or pilot, and any truly qualified aircraft mechanic or designer will see right through you, and it is only a matter of time until you prove it to yourself. The FARs have been developed over the last 90 years or