The Why of CiES

For pilots and aircraft owners of general aviation aircraft, it’s been a historical challenge to measure fuel level in the air.  Every time a pilot scans their fuel gauges, they want to assess the state of fuel remaining in the aircraft.   To give a pilot  better decision making tools in flight, functional fuel gauges are a minimum requirement.  For this reason the FAA mandated operational fuel gauges for all flight operations.  This capability is critically true if you want to utilize the maximum safe range of your aircraft.

The main problem pilots face is misleading information provided by traditional fuel quantity instrumentation. Even if a pilot knows the fuel gauges to be erratic, they still can lead to bad decision making.  Today, their best option is measuring fuel before flight.  This measurement is  typically made with a wooden stick or glass pipette.  Pilots use this starting known fuel level  and keep track of consumption in flight, but of course, they still run out of fuel.  One key factor missing in this method is knowing exactly among the multiple tanks on the aircraft, just where is the fuel located.    Let's be frank using a stick in a modern aircraft illustrates that we have given up on ever making the fuel gauge work. 

With a bulk of the general aviation aircraft aging beyond 40 yrs, the problem is only get worse over time.

If only there was a better way to measure fuel quantity in the air, then pilots could make better decisions regarding extending flights, balancing tanks or making an extra fuel stop.  This capability would lead to less fuel starvation or exhaustion events and better piece of mind.  With 400,000 general aviation aircraft flying, there is a clear opportunity to meaningfully impact safety on the breadth of worlds general aviation pilots.

We've taken on a new look

Beech Customer Responses

Beech Customer Responses

I have the CiES frequency senders, with matching Aerospace Logic gauges.

Working with Aerospace Logic requires patience, but in the end, the result is really spectacular.

Yesterday, at 8500 AGL, I ran both R&L Auxiliary tanks down to 0.0 gals, at 47:35 on the clock, precisely as expected... A few seconds later... Fuel pressure begins to fall, immediately switched back to left main.  

Accuracy... It's a totally new experience. I have two fuel totalizers. One Shadin and one in my G4.  Maybe having accurate fuel gauges is overkill... But it's an overkill that I like. 

The only caveat is that my shop wasn't particularly efficient with the remove / reinstall / remove / final install / calibrate process.   I have ALOT of money tied up in this.   But I don't regret it, and I would do it again. 







For anyone who is considering CiES fuel senders these things are awesome. They are well worth the work to install. I ran all new shielded conductor up to the back of my JPI 930. Finally I have a reliable and consistent fuel measurement in my airplane. 

Wow, who would have thought accurate fuel level was possible.

If your airplane is down for an upgrade I would send your old fuel senders to CiES.   This will insure that the senders are appropriately set up the first time.   Beech in all their wisdom made numerous different senders inverting the bolt patterns on some etc. 

CiES senders can work by resistance, voltage or frequency. I would chose at a minimum voltage if you can, Frequency is even better.
Scott @ CiES knows his stuff.


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The cost to retrofit CiES senders to a pre-74 B55 is around $3200 (plus installation). That may seem "outrageous" but it's only about 50% more than what it costs to have the eight (2 per tank * 4 tanks) senders "overhauled" and my experience with overhauled senders is not very good. At best the overhauled senders will perform as good as when new for a few years which is to say they're accurate to within about +/- 5 gallons.

Properly calibrated the CiES senders appear to be within one gallon.  In a Bonanza with two 40 gallon tanks or a post 1973 Baron there are only four senders so that cost is cut in half.

 IIRC the last time I checked, new (1940s technology based) senders from Beech were around $1,600 each or over four times what CiES charges.

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+1 on the CiES/ Scott Philiben Phan club. There's no better customer service than that provided by Scott. anywhere.

I'm still VERY happy with my CiES senders. You know, when something "just works", you take it for granted.   I don't really give my CiES senders much thought. 

They're underappreciated little heros quietly doing their job. Perfectly. All the time.

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AIRCRAFT FUEL GAUGES THAT YOU CAN TRUST 

"With over 12,000 units now flying, CiES has taken over the OEM fuel level sending field.   Our combination of outstanding quality,  reliability, and accuracy has made CiES the standard and the runaway industry leader for fuel level indication on all aviation platforms, GA, Utility, Rotorcraft for both reciprocating and turbine engine applications " 

Aviation Fuel Level Indication - Customer Responses

Customer Responses

The cost to retrofit CiES senders to a pre-74 B55 is around $3200 (plus installation). That may seem "outrageous" but it's only about 50% more than what it costs to have the eight (2 per tank * 4 tanks) senders "overhauled" and my experience with overhauled senders is not very good. At best the OH senders will perform as good as when new for a few years which is to say they're accurate to within about +/- 5 gallons.
Properly calibrated the CiES senders appear to be within one gallon.  In a Bonanza with two 40 gallon tanks or a post 1973 Baron there are only four senders so that cost is cut in half. IIRC the last time I checked, new (1940s technology based) senders from Beech were around $1,600 each or over four times what CiES charges.

I'm having a hard time seeing anything "outrageous" with CIES pricing.

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And one additional point about CIES senders. I have absolutely no doubt if any question or issue came up, Scott would be on the phone within the hour. (More likely in minutes.) Every interaction I have had with him and interactions I have seen others have with him have been very positive. 

Phone or email he's always been very helpful.

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+1 on the CiES/ Scott Philiben Phan club. There's no better customer service than that provided by Scott. anywhere.

I'm still VERY happy with my CiES senders. You know, when something "just works", you take it for granted. I don't really give my CiES senders much thought. They're underappreciated little heros quietly doing their job. Perfectly. All the time.

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AIRCRAFT FUEL GAUGES THAT YOU CAN TRUST 

"With over 10,000 units now flying, CiES has taken over the OEM fuel level sending field.   Our combination of outstanding quality,  reliability, and accuracy has made CiES the standard and the industry leader for fuel level indication on all aviation platforms, GA, Utility, Rotorcraft for both reciprocating and turbine engine applications " 

Piper PA-31 Navajo Fuel Quantity Senders

Piper Navajo Fuel Quantity Senders  

We just completed a set of Piper Navajo senders for Mike Jones Aircraft.   

We replaced the old resistance sender design with the CiES Magnetic Field design .  Like a lot of well regarded aircraft, the Piper Navajo has not been supported by the factory for some time and the existing replacement senders either don't work or they have outlived their ability to be effectively re-worked along.

The CiES fuel level sender is built for the Navajo application, with a custom arms dedicated to each location on both the main and the auxiliary tanks.  Our non-contact fuel quantity measurement method insures that leakage can not happen through the sender body.  A modern digital sender component to compliment a modern digital cockpit interface, like a JPI or Aerospace Logic.

All of our sensor electronics are fully enclosed in the aluminum housing.  Unlike traditional failure prone senders - our senders have amassed an impressive record of 350,000 hrs of flight time without error or in service replacement.   

We will change your opinion of what float fuel senders are capable of - both from a precision and reliability standpoint.

Finally a fuel level sender specifically designed for the aviation market.

Vulcanair P68 Service Bulletin - Digital Fuel Level Digital Fuel Level

Vulcanair P68 Service Bulletin - 

The two new fuel senders are of magnetic field typology and their output is a digital square wave signal whose frequency changes according to the fuel level in the tank.

This new fuel sender uses one wire to interface the level indicator by which it transfers its output frequency to the indicator and a second wire to get a voltage supply, typically  the 28Vdc of the aircraft.


Vulcanair is the second OEM Aircraft manufacturer to utilize the CiES Digital Fuel quantity sender for installation on all of it's aircraft.   

Vulcanair is the first manufacturer to offer a retrofit Service Bulletin Kit to install the system on legacy Vulcanair and Partenavia Aircraft.  

 
AIRCRAFT FUEL GAUGES THAT TELL THE TRUTH 

"With over 10,000 units now flying, CiES has taken over the OEM fuel level sending field.   Our combination of outstanding quality,  reliability, and accuracy has made CiES the standard and the industry leader for fuel level indication on all aviation platforms, GA, Utility, Rotorcraft for both reciprocating and turbine engine applications " 

100% of Aircraft that Suffer Fuel Related Accidents have Non-Functional Fuel Gauges

That's a pretty bold statement.  

While the FAA and NTSB do not as a rule, evaluate or test the fuel quantity system in the fuel starved aircraft the same is not true for other national safety boards or aircraft regulatory agencies. 

These foriegn agencies and boards have determined that fuel indication plays a large part in fuel related accidents.

In fact these agencies and boards have petitioned our FAA to issue guidance or an Airworthiness Directive on the fuel quantity systems that they found to be less than functional.  

It is unfortunate - but in the aviation world we need to describe what a functional fuel gauge is.

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A Functional Aircraft Fuel Gauge has the following two Characteristics

• In level flight the indicated amount of fuel shown on the gauge should be within 3% of actual fuel volume in the tank.  

• When the fuel is at a low level demonstrated to the FAA to be the minimum fuel that can be drawn from the aircraft in all normal maneuvering flight conditions this demonstrated fuel quantity will be the "Zero" or "Empty" fuel level value.

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For reasons that we have discussed in this blog  - there are reasons and a history for why we in the aviation community treat the required instrumentation for fuel quantity different than all other required instrumentation on the on the aircraft.  

When you take a step back and look at it the context of what aircraft fuel level indication should be vs. what it is or what it has become.

There is room for improvement,  but most pilots believe that fuel indication will never change and they definitely won't rely on it.

Let's make aircraft fuel level indication functional to the two characteristics indicated above and use them to provide adequate warning of unplanned fuel usage or fuel loss.  

With this vital information available to pilots for actual fuel quantity in the tanks, pilots will make better decisions.

Britten-Norman Islander Fuel Quantity Senders

Britten-Norman Islander Fuel Quantity Senders  

We just completed a set of Britten-Norman Islander senders for the manufacturer.   

We placed the old Britten-Norman sender design alongside the CiES design for contrast.  Like a lot of small aircraft manufacturers, Britten-Norman had to modify commercial resistance senders to work in their application until we came along.

If you look closely you will see the careful welds on the legacy sender float arm and if you look inside you will see tank sealant applied to the riveted and electrical connections to prevent fuel leakage through the sender body.

The CiES fuel level sender is built for the application, with a custom arm dedicated to this assembly.  Our non contact fuel quantity measurement insures that leakage will not happen through the sender body.  

All of our sensor electronics are fully enclosed in the aluminum housing.  Unlike traditional failure prone senders - our senders have amassed an impressive record of 300,000 hrs of flight time without error or in service replacement.   We will change your opinion of what float fuel senders are capable of - both from a precision and reliability standpoint.

Finally a fuel level sender designed for the aviation market.

Perspective Touch Fuel Quantity

Cirrus SF50 Jet

Instilling confidence with just a glance. Dedicated synoptics such as: Engine & Fuel.  

The new SF50 Cirrus Jet provides a comprehensive view of the aircraft fuel system.

The high reliability fuel sensors behind this system are manufactured by CiES.

They instill enough confidence to the manufacturer to do away with pilot entry of fuel level.  

And secure enough to allow automatic tank switching of fuel based on weight and fuel imbalance.

Pretty astounding actually. 

CiES Accuracy that allows Numerics of Individual Tank and Total Fuel Capacity 

and Fuel Temperature 

Safety that allows at allows automatic input of actual fuel level weight based on fuel level sensor input. 

Beech Baron Digital Fuel Level Sender Retrofit - Part 4

Beech Baron 55 Fuel Level Senders

We have now digitized the Baron 55 Senders.  For the Baron 55 we have gone ahead with part production for top mount senders and have established the arm lengths to complete this design.   

As we produce the arms in house -                                                                                                                                                    This gave us the shortest time to achieving a TSO Baron Fuel Sender for our customer.

All dimensions for these new senders  were captured from a legacy set of Beech Baron Fuel Level senders.  As our design constraints are different from the legacy senders - there is a little bit to getting the right geometry in the tank 

We are looking forward to this system in the aircraft as it represents a chance for us to utilize our capability of giving a multiple tank system accurate fuel level.

Stay tuned for further updates and pictures.

Beech Baron Digital Fuel Level Sender Retrofit - Part 3

Beech Baron 58 Fuel Level Senders

We have now digitized the Baron 58 Senders.  For the Baron 58 we have gone ahead with part production for top mount senders and only needed to establish the arm lengths to complete this design.   As we produce the arms in house - this gave us the shortest time to achieving a TSO Baron Fuel Sender for our customer.

All dimensions for these new senders  were captured from a legacy set of Beech Baron Fuel Level senders.  As our design constraints are different from the legacy senders - there is a little bit to getting the right geometry in the tank 

We are looking forward to this system in the aircraft as it represents a chance for us to utilize our capability of summing multiple senders to achieve a single fuel tank output 

One of the interesting items that came up in investigation is that every legacy Outboardd bottom mount Beechcraft Baron 58 Fuel Sender has a seemingly factory grind mark on the housing and screw  - Clearance ?

Stay tuned for further updates and pictures.

Cessna 210 Digital Fuel Level

CiES Added Another Aircraft Today 

So three new aircraft configurations this week in as many days.    This one was admittedly easy as it is identical to the Cessna 177 Design.   

I believe our greatest accomplishment this year is developing a methodology to add TSO'd configurations to our list.   

Our magnetic field design makes changes to fuel senders as easy as changing float arm length and an internal map profile 

Our technology for fuel level sending is eclipsed by no other method.  Magnetic Field is superior to both traditional aircraft Capacitive and Resistive fuel senders.  

Contact us to find out why we can make such a bold statement.

Beech Baron CiES Magnetic Fuel Level Sender Retrofit - Part 2

Beech Baron 58 Fuel Level Senders

We received a another set of Beech Baron fuel level senders today.  In the coming days we will quantify the major characteristics of these senders like the arm length and position so that we can make new CiES Digital Magnetic Field Senders.  This set presents a challenge as we need to combine three senders into 1 output.   

These three inputs will accurately read the volume in the Beech 58 Baron fuel tanks   

Stay tuned for further updates and pictures.

Beech Baron CiES Magnetic Fuel Level Sender Retrofit - Part 1

Beech Baron 55 Fuel Level Senders

We received a set of Beech Baron fuel level senders yesterday.  In the coming days we will quantify the major characteristics of these senders like the arm length and position so that we can make new CiES Digital Magnetic Field Senders to accurately read the volume in the Beech Baron fuel tanks - Both the Main and Aux.  

Stay tuned for further updates and pictures.

CiES Mooney Fuel Level Senders - A Digital Fuel Sensor with Analog Outputs

Today we delivered 2 sets of CiES Mooney Fuel level senders for late mode M, R, S, & TN Mooney aircraft.

So we now have fuel level senders for the popular Mooney Bravo, Ovation, Eagle & Acclaim. 

We are now adding a new aftermarket general aviation platform every week.  

In addition CiES is adding a new OEM or commercial application every month.


Unique to CiES Fuel Level Senders:

• Set 1 - was set up for a Mooney Bravo with a voltage output for interfacing to a JPI 900 
• Set 2 - was set up for a Mooney Acclaim with a resistive output for the factory G1000 system.

CiES has the unique capability of supporting multiple platforms with the same sender design.  This sender design physically plugs into the same mounts in the aircraft.

While the float remains - CiES's method of measurement is lightyears away from the traditional potentiometer or resistive sender of the past.   CiES senders utilize a patented magnetic field technology that has more in common with the digital compass in your flight instrument or your cellphone.

Like a compass that always points north, the CiES fuel level sender always points to the float.  The sensor is precise enough to measure the angular position of that float down to tenth's of a degree and that precision is repeatable over time, temperature and vibration. 

FAA TSO'd Fuel & Oil Level Senders

Another Milestone Accomplished 

We received our second TSO C55a designation for our aviation fuel level senders. 

To meet this requirement our senders were rigorously tested in in harsh environmental and electrical conditions.

In these conditions, the CiES senders had to provide a stable and effective fuel level output.

Our output quality level met the most rigorous FAA TSO standard for fuel level sending @ 0.75% of full tank volume.  A fuel level standard that the big iron fuel senders can only hope to achieve. 

Meeting these standards proves that CiES technology provides an accurate fuel level output for any aircraft or rotorcraft type.

The fact that a float based sensor meets this critical FAA requirement - proves our technological and patent advantages, as

only CiES produces FAA TSO Approved Float Sensors. 

Additionally there are no wires or electrical components in the fuel volume.  The requirements of the FAA Advisory Circular AC 25.981-1C - Fuel Tank Flammability are inherently met in our fuel sender design.

What was Added to the New Sensor

• Universal Level Output
• Resistance 
• Voltage
• Frequency
• Fuel Temperature Output 
• Lbs or Kilos Fuel Level Capability
• Flying Lead Connection
• Better Connection Flexibility
• Unlimited Connection Interface.
• Can Accommodate Limited or Tight Connection Clearance  
• Simpler Data Transmission Between Senders.
• 7 fold Increase in Output Sensitivity
• Improved Flexibility in Meeting Future Fuel Level Challenges
• Larger Data Processing Headroom
• Filtering and Smoothing 
• Internal Fuel Tank Mapping Capability  

Cessna - Friggin Lasers in Their Fuel Tank

Hidden Costs Behind the High Cost of Aviation 

I had started to re-energize our 2015 marketing effort  and wrote a few blog posts about delivering magnetic field fuel senders to,  new to us,  European Aircraft and Helicopter customers.  We seem to be popular over there,  we may owe many thanks to Flieger editor Thomas Borchert  

To check on our progress on our google search listing placement,  I ran across a G1000 Cessna Fuel Sender for Sale on Ebay  and thought I'd share it.

This is a Meggitt TDR (Time Domain Reflectometry) Fuel Level Sensor for a Cessna Single Engine.

• Used Ebay Price is $1,800 each
• New Price from large Cessna Parts Jobber is $3,100
• Cessna List Price is $3,864.  

The Meggitt Fuel Level Sensors do look well made and come with a nice calibration sheet for your Cessna 172, 182 or 206.

Replacement Cost for 2 of these sensors on a Cessna would be $7K to $8K a Kit -  Installed cost would be well over $10,000 - This for a retrofit fuel level system on a Cessna 172 for heavens sake.  It is painfully obvious why there isn't a retrofit STC available.

Maybe some in aviation are correct,  airplanes are getting to be very expensive  - part prices contributing greatly.  But with a bit of creativity, it doesn't have to be.   

The caveat is,  that our Fuel Level Sensors met all the FAA TSO requirements that the TDR fuel sensor has met - and we do it for far less money.  I was told early on,  Engineering is not building the best without regard to cost, it is providing best performance at a price that is attractive to your consumer and the FAA.   

While I have heard that our FAA TSO fuel level sensors are expensive compared to legacy commercial grade resistance fuel senders, i.e. the kind of sensor they used to put in aircraft of the past.   I agree to a point on the expensive part arguement, but I truly feel CiES hit the target.  We provide improved aviation technology and performance at a competitive price. 

This Meggitt TDR sensor is not a well known change to the venerable Cessna Single Engine Lineup,  you would be hard pressed to know this was in your wing unless you queried the Cessna Illustrated Parts Catalogue.   There is no mention of this system any Cessna Marketing literature.   You'd think that a $8,000 fuel level system would be worthy of editorial or marketing content  - I guess it isn't.

Almost overnight the world of aviation fuel level changed and somehow nobody bothered to notice.

The TDR system works by shining laser light down a glass rod and measuring returns, so next time you come in contact with a G1000 Cessna owner - Let them know they have "friggin" lasers in their fuel tanks. I am going to bet they'll be surprised.

Cessna Cardinal 177 & 177 RG Fuel Level Sensor

Well we produced another configuration of our fuel level sender for a very popular Cessna Aircraft model with a rabid and enthusiastic following.

---- Yes the Cessna Cardinal 177 ----

We had sought out common aviation fuel level sensors to copy into our format and we had a few mixed results, for example owners of Cessna 177's would send in the sensors per our request,  but the part numbers of the units supplied only matched up to another model Cessna Aircraft and did not match any of the Cessna Fuel Level drawings we have on hand.  

Finally, last year we got what we were looking for - Senders from an aircraft that matched the P/N for the aircraft. 

Note:  When you get involved in this small segment of aviation - It becomes very clear why fuel level in aviation has a very low reputation.

A Cardinal Aircraft owner tells a better story: 

Anyway, I saw the mention of CiES on one of the Cardinal Flyers Digests and gave them a call.  I spoke with Scott Philiben, who said that they could build them for me, and it would interface correctly with the JPI.  JPI confirmed this.  This was last FEB 2014 when I initially purchased the JPI, based on that answer.  

I had to wait till July 1 to start install, both due to the cold weather here, and because that was my annual date  (I also wanted to install an Oilamatic Pre-oiler and an Alpha Systems AOA Gauge).  

What Scott didn't tell me initially, was that I was to be the guinea pig for them getting a TSO sender for Cardinals as this minor variation needed to be sent to the FAA and approved - they had predicted an October delivery.

Scott & company finally came thru with fully TSO'd senders in late Nov, but I then encountered the passing of my Mom, which has led to further down time - anyway, FINALLY got the senders installed last Saturday.

CiES Above - Competitor Below

I was quite impressed on the substantial difference internally between CiES senders and the Electronics International ones.  The electronics in CiES look great, and based on the digital freq meter I have, they work VERY smoothly. I am also impressed with the machining on the fuel senders.

For JPI's part, their wire harness to the wing has three wires - +5V, Ground, and Signal. The JPI diagram says NOT to connect the +5V for CiES, but what they didnt say, and I didnt know until early Nov (when I mentioned that to Scott at CiES) is that the CiES units need +12V!! Turned out not to be an issue - the JPI harness has a "Y" connection in the harness shortly after the harness leaves the JPI box enroute to the wings - I unpinned the +5 wire that comes from the JPI and capped it off, and instead ran a +12 supply from one of the Circuit Breakers (dont remember which at the moment) into the same pin spot. (There is NO interface box as there is with some other senders. Not sure if my JPI is any different internally - JPI could answer though.) Works great (again, on my digital freq meter out at the sender)

One thing I particularly like about the CiES is that the float arm wire is 3x as thick as the one from Cessna, BUT the CiES float arm easily disconnects from the sender, making installation MUCH MUCH MUCH easier. I placed a long tie wrap on the fuel sender arm (in case I dropped the float/arm combination into the tank while working the sender into position) and then after the sender was connected and small cotter pin inserted, the tie wrap was removed. The senders come with a new rubber gasket, and there is no chance of leakage in the middle (like Cessna supplied Rochester, Stewart Warner, or Leigh senders) as there is no pass-thru screw terminal.  CiES uses a 3-pin connector with a twist lock shield. VERY easy to plug in.

At first, Scott and his engineers were concerned about MIN/MAX settings, but they had an epiphany one night and realized that all measurements are relative. They were worried about setting hard "stops" these are the little metal tabs on Cessna original equipment fuel senders that limit the float arm travel.   Turns out the CIES senders have the capability to move thru-out an almost 180 degree range from straight down to straight up.  The original equipment Cessna fuel sender contained a 60 degree potentiometer which limited the angle range allowed by these senders.   The calibration in the JPI is what establishes the fuel level limits and the physical limits of the fuel tank are the physical limits of the sender.

Scott Philiben's phone number is 541-408-1095 - they are in Oregon, so there is a 3hr time difference for me. His email is scott.philiben@ciescorp.com I still have the prototype sender/float combination that we used for testing and verification that this new simpler configuration would not hit any internal ribs/structure. Can't see internally, but externally it looks exactly like the ones with the TSO labels on them!

Update - Installed and calibrated - first impressions are good 

Tecnam Fuel Level Sensor

A few blog post ago we talked about our  UNIVERSAL AIRCRAFT FUEL SENDER and the opportunities that this would open up for us in the aviation market.

Today we will be delivering units for several applications and customers.

Tecnam after first trying to utilize Capacitive Fuel Level Sensors for their aircraft and not being satisfied with their performance decided to try CiES. 

Our success on the Cirrus platforms - Both SR2X Series and the Jet warranted a close look at our technology and capability.

This is the first pair of Tecnam Fuel level sensors.

Magneto Resistive is an excellent technology to apply to fuel level solutions.

It is robust, non-contact, reliable and very accurate.


Let us know about your critical fuel level challenge -