Dumb thing of the year and something learned

Well I did the one dumb thing of the year today, my only one allowed. One more stunt like that and I can step off a bridge or eat a bullet.

I accidentally drilled a hole into a gas tank.

Fortunatly I did not blow myself up. Or maybe I did and this is from the grave. Last month a lightning bolt missed my head by 3' so it appears the Lord is not letting me off this mess of a world so easily.

So I had gasoline coming out of a 1/4" hole and wondering what to do about it, and quick!

What do to? What to do? It's all over the place! Nobody light a match (unless I'm laying in it, then go ahead).

What I ended up doing was cutting a piece of rubber tubing, and inserting that into the hole, then inserting a screw into it and snug it. The leak stopped, but not enough that I would trust it. I plan on a permanent fix this weekend but I don't see any leaking yet. I drove the car around for a bit and still no leaking.


What I will do later on is see about perfecting this idea into a quick fix emergency plug device for plugging bullet holes in tanks.


Anyone have any further ideas?

Many, many years ago, a helicopter I happened to be flying in took a round in the oil tank. We made it back all right, but we quickly received another call to pick up wounded personnel.

Our crew chief picked up a small piece of scrap lumber, whittled a point on it, and jammed it into the oil tank.

It wasn't pretty, but the people we picked up weren't too particular. As best I remember,we flew another couple hours before getting the tank replaced.

Onward and upward,
airforce

Hell, that's nothing! Many, many years ago we patched up shot up rotor blades with 100mph duct tape!

Did you actually find someone brave enough to fly it?

Onward and upward,
airforce