Zombie Apocalypse Survival: Fuel From The 100LL Pump

Sinistar

Sinistar

En-Route
Joined
Sep 9, 2016
Messages
3,712
Display Name
Display name:
Brad
In the previous zombie survival thread, the problem was getting the 9000 ton electric motor driven hangar door open without any power. You managed to get the plane out!

The plane had been nestled in the rural airport hangar for the past 7 weeks, safe and sound, as the apocalypse played out. Thank god you topped it off after that last pancake breakfast. Damn, has it really been 7 weeks since you’ve had pancakes? Concentrate! The plane is loaded up. Winter is coming and you know you need to head to a warmer climate to survive. The problem is the destination is beyond maximum fuel range. So you’ll need to make one stop for a gas.

From what you’ve heard on the short wave (I have no clue what a short wave is, but sounds very survivaly) the zombies are worst around cities and that armed survivors have been siphoning all the fuel from vehicles. So landing at another sleepy rural airport seems like the best play. Should be no zombies around, but easy to spot and dispatch if needed. It’s you, your wife, pre-teen daughter and trusty Goldie who thankfully dislikes zombies vs his normal licking anything from babies to serial killers . You’ve got some supplies and have hand loaded 1000rds of .308 and another 1000rds of 45acp. Your wife can easily make zombie headshots to 300yds with the bolt 308 and the daughter is good enough with the short barrel AR10 to catch anything under 150yds. So you will have time.

There’s probably 1000gal of that beautiful light blue 100LL in the underground tank. This fill is gonna be $0!

But how the hell do you get it out of that underground tank and into your plane with no power?
 
Hacksaw and find some sort of hand pump to take and a long hose, get to the pipe that supplies the pump it’s fuel, cut it and run your hose down to pump it...

But before that check the hangers to see if they have been raided, if not take from another plane, or if it’s nicer than yours take it!
 
I’d scrounge around in my local FBO service shop (being sure not to make a peep) for a drum barrel hand crank pump. I believe those have a 4’ feeder tube on them. Then I’d find the filler cap for the 100LL tank somewhere on the ramp, drop in the hand crank line and pump away.
 
PaulMKE said:
I’d scrounge around in my local FBO service shop (being sure not to make a peep) for a drum barrel hand crank pump. I believe those have a 4’ feeder tube on them. Then I’d find the filler cap for the 100LL tank somewhere on the ramp, drop in the hand crank line and pump away.
Click to expand...

Much better idea than mine, filler cap is far easier!

benyflyguy said:
Whatcha flyin???
Click to expand...

I wouldn’t be with the described load, I don’t think the old Cessna 140 would get airborne! Lol. Maybe take the wings off, redo the fuel tanks and hack some zombies with the prop driving south! Lol
 
Our above-ground tank had a manual low-point pump called a "water thief". It would take forever, but it definitely pumps gas (after pumping water and other dreck out of the tank. We pumped the tank weekly, and provided solvents for the A&Ps :D )

I'd expect an underground tank installation to have a similar arrangement.

Ours was guarded by the flimsiest of master locks. Bring bolt cutters. :D
 
Most rural airports are going to have above ground tanks thanks to the EPA. Still, need a way to get the fuel out of the tank and into the plane. I would look for a bunch of 5 gallon Jerry cans and some pipe wrenches.
 
image_17161.jpg
 
If a zombie was a pilot before, is death and reanimation considered a disqualify condition? Could zombie act as a safety pilot?
I’ve never looked at my hangar door that closely to know if I could have this problem, but I will next time, thx.
 
All you need is a garden hose and someone else to start the siphon for you.
 
A hand-powered siphoning pump would be enough to get flow started from another aircraft, then just let it flow. Or you could do the mouth-full of gasoline thing. Or if you need a flame thrower, bring a generator and a shop vac, lol.
 
Anyone smart enough to have that much ammo stockpiled, and a thousand gallons of avgas tanked on site, will probably have figured out either a.) generator power, b.) a mechanical solution, or c.) never was that bright to begin with, as evidenced by their choice of canine breed. Looks like you almost made it. But hey- thanks for all the avgas we’ll be stopping by to get on our way through! Please don’t bite us.
 
Jumpmaster said:
Most rural airports are going to have above ground tanks thanks to the EPA. Still, need a way to get the fuel out of the tank and into the plane. I would look for a bunch of 5 gallon Jerry cans and some pipe wrenches.
Click to expand...
Okay, this is weird. Every rural airport I have been to has underground tanks so I never even thought about above ground tanks. But there is no way to know that in advance. So now I have new purpose, to map out a few rural airfields halfway to whatever destination it might be. Then again, if there is an above ground storage tank at a rural airport either the ATV crowd or another pilot will have already been there. So I am thinking its the harder to get underground fuel that will be there when I land.
 
Skyrys62 said:
Stick a straw down in the underground tank and hold your thumb over the end... Then when you get it to your wing tank let go of your thumb and it drains right in.
It's magic.
Click to expand...
Better yet, I could use my Fuelhawk stick!
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
Long hose, suck up a mouth full. spit it into the tank. Repeat.


Note: Gasoline tastes awful. The taste doesn't go away for hours.
Click to expand...
Man tell me about it. When I got out the Navy I towed my car home behind an old Chevy K20 pickup. I am pretty sure...NOW...that rear end was geared really, really low (410?). It had dual tanks...like a plane LOL! As I got into Montana I was thinking how awesome the mileage is on this truck as the tank level was down but not low enough to need to stop yet....plus I still have the other tank.

Then, right on que the engine stopped. The nearest interstate ramps were like 20 miles in each direction. And this is no BS...a trooper drove by right after I got out and I waved at him and he just kept on drive....arrgggghhh!. So I get this idea to cut off the ends of a garden hose I had in the back of a truck and siphon from my Monte Carlo into one of the tow red Gerry can's I have in back. I sold the dirt bike (man that would have been handy) but kept the gas cans...empty of course....arrggghhh!

Several problems became immediately evident. I could barely get the garden hose through the stupid small opening of the filler thanks to newer fuels requiring that smaller opening. But I managed. Then it was obvious that the bottom of the gas tank on the car was like 3" from the pavement as the front end was up on the tow dolly. Not helping matters any was how flat it was to the shoulder. I need to have the can like 20ft away to get it low enough. I did "suck" gas but never got the siphon going.

Not helping matters any was that I had removed the drive shaft to pull it home so the 'spare car" I just happened to have was of no help either. Not to mention it was so full if **** it would have taken 3hrs to unpack it. Eventually a driver stopped by and took me back to get gas. We got a flat on the way. Not my day.

I drove that old Monte Carlo through college and later work years. There was always a rattle because I had to cut off that hose and shove the rest in the tank. I also learned that dual tank systems can still suck gas from the unselected tank LOL. So when I saw the Cessna 182 had a 'Both" selection I was sold.
 
Lachlan said:
Anyone smart enough to have that much ammo stockpiled, and a thousand gallons of avgas tanked on site, will probably have figured out either a.) generator power, b.) a mechanical solution, or c.) never was that bright to begin with, as evidenced by their choice of canine breed. Looks like you almost made it. But hey- thanks for all the avgas we’ll be stopping by to get on our way through! Please don’t bite us.
Click to expand...
Sorry, probably my bad writing. The plane is topped off for the first leg. I was just figuring that there must be several rural / municipal airports that probably have oodles of fuel sitting in underground tanks because its such a PITA to get out. So the task is to get that fuel out.

At this point I am smart enough to get that friggin' hangar door open (thanks to the other thread). I always top off when I land. I do have a nice Dillon progressive reloader (no electricity needed :). The wife probably isn't quite as good of a shot but would do. I have no clue how our Golden Retriever will behave around Zombies but until there is an actual Zombie apocalypse we will never know. I bet German Shepards will attack and turn into Zombie dogs so that's why we didn't get another GSD.

So, in my careful preparation for the Zombie apocalypse, I realized I didn't have a plan for getting the fuel out from underground. I figured all the above ground storage and planes would have been raided because the fuel is so easy to get to.
 
Okay, getting back on topic. Lets say I can get to the pipe that feeds the pump. Wouldn't there be check valve in the way? Can the fill pipe be used does the that pipe not go straight down? I like the handpump idea a lot. Not too big. But can it draw up all the way from the bottom of a underground tank to the surface or would a powered pump be needed?
 
Sinistar said:
I also learned that dual tank systems can still suck gas from the unselected tank LOL.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the electric switch over valves really sucked in the late 70s early 80s. I changed many of them on the side of the road, and eventually learned how to install earlier model switch over valves to the newer trucks.
 
7 weeks, that fuel is already gone. People have already stolen/crashed all the planes by now. Stay put, burn the furniture if you have to. Eat the dog. Try to not get wife pregnant being cooped up. Eat neighbors dog. Repeat.
 
No.

My original plan for the apocalypse was as follows:

Secure the local metropolitan library.

When everybody has looted the movie rental stores, and stolen all the generators from the big box stores, and siphoned all the gas from all the stations, and can't get on the interwebbies anymore cause there ain't one....

Come to me ' cause I have the keys to all the information... How to run your car on methane, or ethanol, or how to make your own ethanol... Or how to make a steam engine... What is edible. How to grow more edible stuff. How to make gunpowder... And even.. how to kill zombies and vampires, if they're really about.
 
Sinistar said:
In the previous zombie survival thread, the problem was getting the 9000 ton electric motor driven hangar door open without any power. You managed to get the plane out!

The plane had been nestled in the rural airport hangar for the past 7 weeks, safe and sound, as the apocalypse played out. Thank god you topped it off after that last pancake breakfast. Damn, has it really been 7 weeks since you’ve had pancakes? Concentrate! The plane is loaded up. Winter is coming and you know you need to head to a warmer climate to survive. The problem is the destination is beyond maximum fuel range. So you’ll need to make one stop for a gas.

From what you’ve heard on the short wave (I have no clue what a short wave is, but sounds very survivaly) the zombies are worst around cities and that armed survivors have been siphoning all the fuel from vehicles. So landing at another sleepy rural airport seems like the best play. Should be no zombies around, but easy to spot and dispatch if needed. It’s you, your wife, pre-teen daughter and trusty Goldie who thankfully dislikes zombies vs his normal licking anything from babies to serial killers . You’ve got some supplies and have hand loaded 1000rds of .308 and another 1000rds of 45acp. Your wife can easily make zombie headshots to 300yds with the bolt 308 and the daughter is good enough with the short barrel AR10 to catch anything under 150yds. So you will have time.

There’s probably 1000gal of that beautiful light blue 100LL in the underground tank. This fill is gonna be $0!

But how the hell do you get it out of that underground tank and into your plane with no power?
Click to expand...


It’s not possible. You are over gross and FAA zombies will ramp check you and put a Python lock on your prop.
 
CharlieD3 said:
No.

My original plan for the apocalypse was as follows:

Secure the local metropolitan library.

When everybody has looted the movie rental stores, and stolen all the generators from the big box stores, and siphoned all the gas from all the stations, and can't get on the interwebbies anymore cause there ain't one....

Come to me ' cause I have the keys to all the information... How to run your car on methane, or ethanol, or how to make your own ethanol... Or how to make a steam engine... What is edible. How to grow more edible stuff. How to make gunpowder... And even.. how to kill zombies and vampires, if they're really about.
Click to expand...

Just don't break your glasses....
 
CharlieD3 said:
No.

My original plan for the apocalypse was as follows:

Secure the local metropolitan library.

When everybody has looted the movie rental stores, and stolen all the generators from the big box stores, and siphoned all the gas from all the stations, and can't get on the interwebbies anymore cause there ain't one....

Come to me ' cause I have the keys to all the information... How to run your car on methane, or ethanol, or how to make your own ethanol... Or how to make a steam engine... What is edible. How to grow more edible stuff. How to make gunpowder... And even.. how to kill zombies and vampires, if they're really about.
Click to expand...

I read science fiction novel, "Lucifer's Hammer" about a comet striking earth. A major character was a scientist (who's name I forget. Hey! I was in high school when I read this!) gathered a whole bunch of books of this type, secured them in plastic bags and sank them in his septic tank. He xxxx from xxxxxxx in the book, but not before he'd xxxxxx the main heroes and secured mankind's xxxxxxx with his saved xxxxxxxx...

Fixed...
 
Last edited:
Many small (rural) air strips have above ground tanks. 4B1 (Duanesburg, NY) comes to mind.. Come to think of it, there is an above ground tank at DXR, and that's a towered field.
You guys don't have a list of all those locations?
Any of you have the homemade .223 mini gun so you can weaponize your plane?
I'm sure gonna miss you guys when the apocalypse hits.
 
Sinistar said:
Okay, getting back on topic. Lets say I can get to the pipe that feeds the pump. Wouldn't there be check valve in the way? Can the fill pipe be used does the that pipe not go straight down? I like the handpump idea a lot. Not too big. But can it draw up all the way from the bottom of a underground tank to the surface or would a powered pump be needed?
Click to expand...

Our feedpipe to the pump was 3" diameter steel. If you're dealing with underground tanks, you could unhook the union and snake a garden hose or whatever down to the tanks, in theory. Bring one seriously large pipe wrench.

There will also be a fillpipe of similar type with only a cap on it. That's probably the one I'd go for.

If you're dealing with underground tanks, you'll want to make sure they don't also sell Jet A, or if they do, you sample first to make sure you're looting the right tank. :D
 
schmookeeg said:
Our feedpipe to the pump was 3" diameter steel. If you're dealing with underground tanks, you could unhook the union and snake a garden hose or whatever down to the tanks, in theory. Bring one seriously large pipe wrench.

There will also be a fillpipe of similar type with only a cap on it. That's probably the one I'd go for.

If you're dealing with underground tanks, you'll want to make sure they don't also sell Jet A, or if they do, you sample first to make sure you're looting the right tank. :D
Click to expand...
or, that if you find a jet A tank, it just means you have to upgrade to a PC12
 
Shepherd said:
Many small (rural) air strips have above ground tanks. 4B1 (Duanesburg, NY) comes to mind.. Come to think of it, there is an above ground tank at DXR, and that's a towered field.
You guys don't have a list of all those locations?
Any of you have the homemade .223 mini gun so you can weaponize your plane?
I'm sure gonna miss you guys when the apocalypse hits.
Click to expand...
Shep, I need to hang with you. You seem prepared. Damn, a list of airports with above ground tanks and a .223 mini-gun :) You are like 12 topics ahead of me and the "Zombie Apocalypse..." series.
 
Zombies are real, turn on cable news channels, you see them all the time. They are brain dead, but can talk with a teleprompter, and usually hang out in DC.


Tom
 
MooneyDriver78 said:
If a zombie was a pilot before, is death and reanimation considered a disqualify condition? Could zombie act as a safety pilot?
I’ve never looked at my hangar door that closely to know if I could have this problem, but I will next time, thx.
Click to expand...
I don’t remmber death being a disqualifying condition in the AME documentation, nor on question 18.

Dr Bruce,Dr Lou? opinion?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top