Another fuel exhaustion

WannFly

WannFly

Final Approach
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Priyo

Painful to listen to.... unless there was a leak in the tanks, when you run out of fuel in a Cherokee... it’s all on you pal.
 
No fuel spill,was certainly a hard landing.
 
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During my preflight yesterday the fuel check valve under the engine had a drip every 6 seconds, that was enough for me to get maintenance looking at it before I was willing to accept it and go fly. It was a quick fix in the end but I like the fuel gauges to drop due to use and not due to a stuck valve.
 
WannFly said:

Painful to listen to.... unless there was a leak in the tanks, when you run out of fuel in a Cherokee... it’s all on you pal.
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Good rule to follow in a 60s Cherokee: if you have more than half tanks, you’re good. If you have less, stop and get fuel. Or don’t depart to begin with. That’s about what the gauges are good for.
 
mryan75 said:
Good rule to follow in a 60s Cherokee: if you have more than half tanks, you’re good. If you have less, stop and get fuel. Or don’t depart to begin with. That’s about what the gauges are good for.
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my old original flight Cclub back in Boston actually had a little sign on the door before you went out to the aircraft that said pretty much that same thing "if under half tanks don't depart, fill up!"
 
My favorite was a guy who filed a flight plan saying he had 7 hours of fuel on board (or something like that). At 7:05 into the flight the engine stopped. Too bad he was just short of the airport. I give him credit for nailing the fuel burn estimate.
 
mryan75 said:
Good rule to follow in a 60s Cherokee: if you have more than half tanks, you’re good. If you have less, stop and get fuel. Or don’t depart to begin with. That’s about what the gauges are good for.
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my old original flight Cclub back in Boston actually had a little sign on the door before you went out to the aircraft that said pretty much that same thing "if under half tanks don't depart, fill up!"
 
One of the first things I changed in my Cherokee after I bought it was add a JPI fuel flow meter. The next time I feel like spending lots of money I'll probably replace the fuel senders with Cies, but in the mean time moderately conservative planning seems to be doing the trick.
 
I have a strict policy of not taking off unless at least one tank is at the tab. I am having a JPI with a fuel totalizer put in right now, but only because I am paranoid about fuel. I have always been in the ballpark with my fuel planning, but I am interested to see how close my planning is in real-time.
 
flyingron said:
My favorite was a guy who filed a flight plan saying he had 7 hours of fuel on board (or something like that). At 7:05 into the flight the engine stopped. Too bad he was just short of the airport. I give him credit for nailing the fuel burn estimate.
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Great math skills. Poor judgment. Can’t have it all.
 
I had asked the FBO to have plane filled to the tabs coming out of Denver, I checked the weather early in the day and called them and had them fill it up. Climb rate sucked, but if the weather had been a problem I could have diverted to pretty much anywhere in the Western US. As it was I only ended up adding about 30 minutes due to some dodging and weaving of the weather. But it made for some neat photos.
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MuseChaser said:
Fill to the tabs before every flight. Repeat.
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Every time I land i fill to the tabs. I really don’t understand why people don’t do this. It is just good practice. I guess maybe if I was on a very short hop it might be different, but it is just a simple thing to do.
 
steviedeviant said:
Every time I land i fill to the tabs. I really don’t understand why people don’t do this. It is just good practice. I guess maybe if I was on a very short hop it might be different, but it is just a simple thing to do.
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Because I have other things to carry in the plane besides tankering gas.?? Too much gas replaces revenue. That is why it is called fuel planning. Plan how much gas I need to make the trip, then add a half hour or 45 minutes, or more if I think weather will be a problem, then load up the plane to max gross weight.

But understand you are talking about private planes, not money making planes. Still, sometimes full tanks means not everything goes.
 
Zeldman said:
Because I have other things to carry in the plane besides tankering gas.?? Too much gas replaces revenue. That is why it is called fuel planning. Plan how much gas I need to make the trip, then add a half hour or 45 minutes, or more if I think weather will be a problem, then load up the plane to max gross weight.

But understand you are talking about private planes, not money making planes. Still, sometimes full tanks means not everything goes.
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I definitely see your argument for a revenue plane, but for most general, there can’t be much difference in cost between filling to the tabs vs. half tanks. From my reading, most of these situations are GA pilots not remembering to switch tanks. I guess that is another problem.
 
steviedeviant said:
I definitely see your argument for a revenue plane, but for most general, there can’t be much difference in cost between filling to the tabs vs. half tanks. From my reading, most of these situations are GA pilots not remembering to switch tanks. I guess that is another problem.
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You don’t fly a 150 in the summer, do you? I rarely fill it all the way to the top in the summer flying out of a short grass strip unless I am flying with my 3 year old.
But I also only have a Both/Off fuel selector.
 
I get really particular about fuel, I always fill it up in my warrior before I go flying...
 
steviedeviant said:
I definitely see your argument for a revenue plane, but for most general, there can’t be much difference in cost between filling to the tabs vs. half tanks. From my reading, most of these situations are GA pilots not remembering to switch tanks. I guess that is another problem.
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Correct. I hardly do any Part 91 pleasure flights. But if I was planning a trip of 1 hour out, 1 hour back with only me and one other person and no baggage then full tanks would not bother me.

Matthew Rogers said:
But I also only have a Both/Off fuel selector.
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Why don't all high wing planes have that same selector option.?? Never forget to switch a tank that way...:lol::lol:

And believe me, I have no problem with people that always fill the tanks of their personal plane no matter what.
 
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