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while going for my ppl, my cfi said it was time for me to take the flight test. but b4 I did he wanted me to fly with the head of the flight school. we took off and about 10 min into flying he asked me how much fuel did we have and i said the gauges read 3/4 full. he asked if i had LOOKED in the tanks to confirm, i said no. wow wrong thing to say! he said lesson over and he flew back to the school giving me an earful. he gave me back to my cfi saying he wasnt ready! my instructor asked me what i had done to get him so upset, did you roll the 172? or land in front of an airliner taking off? I told him what happened, he sorta caught his breath and said that he had never mentioned that to me to look in the tanks. he said he was probably going to get a good talking to from the head cfi. he told me not to worry, he is not mad at you. he cares...........because HE ran out of fuel TWICE!
even if u have locking gas caps and u park it over night somewhere, LOOK in tank! one can very quickly drain u dry from the bottom! ask me how i know. |
Fuel check
It sometimes amazes me to see how non-chalant some folks are when it comes to fueling. I either do it myself or stand there while it is bring done. Guess what?, I've never had a problem.
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Plus 1 for this.....
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Pilots should generally know how much fuel remains in each tank, and should always instruct "strangers" to fill each tank to a specified number of gallons per tank. They should also always be present when the tanks are filled, but i know thi is not always practical or possible. This is not fool proof either, but IMHO it is much more reliable than the "inches from some reference point" approach. Very glad that you practice the correct preflight procedures, and that you caught this problem before it caught you. This is a great reminder for us all. Don't get complacent when it comes to fueling. |
Someone might recall the details, but the FAA made a big deal about visually checking fuel levels in preflight for aircraft with questionable quantity indicating systems. I think they even stated the need for a marked dip stick if necessary to determine the quantity. I seem to recall that they went so far as calling it negligent if you failed to do a visual check.
Even with a fuel totalizer and independent quantity indicators there is nothing like seeing it for yourself. |
Tank cap off
Visually check fuel/cap secured every time. While preflighting the CAP GA-8, (really high wing), it is a pain to pull the ladder out of the baggage area to climb up to check fuel. On one visual check, we found the tank cap sitting on the wing. Not sure if a member had fueled it themselves or off the truck by an attemdant. Doesn't matter. We followed the checklist and avoided an issue. Fuel gets sucked out at an alarming rate when the cap is off the tank. The GA-8 cross feeds when on "both".
Following the checklist is a safety item. Pat Garboden Katy, TX RV9A N942PT |
A couple of months ago, after the truck finished and I checked the fuel and caps, the fuel truck driver commented that he doesn't see many that do. He said probably less than 10% check after he's done.
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Over fueling can be a problem too!
One of our low time renter pilots flew one of our 172s XC last weekend with a couple of buddies - so he needed to have less than full tanks (our planes have 53 gal tanks). We made sure the plane was low on fuel before he left - so he could add what he needed. When he got to his destination, he asked to have the tanks filled to 16 gal/side. The lineman added 16 gal/side! That put him about 10 gal overweight. With no reasonable way to offload fuel, to his credit, he took the plane up solo for an hour to burn off the excess fuel before loading up for the return flight. Good judgement was not cheap!
He said he learned 2 things: 1-always tell them how much fuel to add - not a desired fuel level (they have no real way to determine that), and 2-there is no substitute to being there during refueling - especially when partial fueling is needed. I congratulated him on his good decision. He got his training somewhere else, so kudos to his instructor. |
fuel
I either watch the guy or do it myself. Checking fuel level should be part of the checklist.
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I can't imagine going for a flight without sticking the tanks, or at the very least popping the caps for a visual. It's a combination of self-preservation gene, a deep mistrust of gauges and training at a school with a higher-than-average emphasis on safety.
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