fill it to the tabs, C172, um, what tabs, where, help

exncsurfer

exncsurfer

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exncsurfer
OK, so I've tried to see these tabs, with zero success. Can someone take a picture of what I'm looking for? I look inside the fill opening and see space and/or fuel, nothing that looks like a tab.

Thanks.
 
Don't know about anything after about 1985, but before that, 172's didn't have tabs.
 
:yeahthat: Depends what year you're flying. Not all Cessna's have them. The tabs are basically just a marker in the fuel tank that indicate a certain level of fuel (ex. 2/3 or 3/4). It's an easy way to know how much fuel is in the tank. Without them you just have to eyeball it and watch as the tank is getting full that it doesn't get overfilled.
 
Ryanb said:
:yeahthat: Depends what year you're flying. Not all Cessna's have them. The tabs are basically just a marker in the fuel tank that indicate a certain level of fuel (ex. 2/3 or 3/4). It's an easy way to know how much fuel is in the tank. Without them you just have to eyeball it and watch as the tank is getting full that it doesn't get overfilled.
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Right, I put C172 in the title, 172R or 172S 'should' have them. I know what they're supposed to be good for, just haven't been able to identify it, which is why I'm wondering if someone can snap a picture, maybe circle it with a highlighter .
 
I can't find a reference or a picture, but is it possible that the bottom edge of the filler neck would be considered Cessna's version of the tab you find in a Piper fuel tank?
 
Greg Bockelman said:
I can't find a reference or a picture, but is it possible that the bottom edge of the filler neck would be considered Cessna's version of the tab you find in a Piper fuel tank?
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Hmm, maybe you have it, I found this for a 172RG, so maybe just filling to the bottom of that 'pipe' is what they're calling 'to the tabs'
upload_2016-12-14_16-57-33.png
It gets kinda dark in there, I'll have to take another gander next time I pre-flight to see if I can make out the bottom of that.
 
exncsurfer said:
Hmm, maybe you have it, I found this for a 172RG, so maybe just filling to the bottom of that 'pipe' is what they're calling 'to the tabs'
View attachment 49847
It gets kinda dark in there, I'll have to take another gander next time I pre-flight to see if I can make out the bottom of that.
Click to expand...
Depending on the aircraft it kinda looks like a small "L" shaped bracket inside the neck of the fuel tank. I don't have any photos of it unfortunately.
 
Looking at a copy of the 172S POH, I am 99.44 percent sure that is the answer.
 
as someone else has mentioned if this is an S model, it is basically the bottom of the metal filler neck you are able to see. if its touching the bottom you should have 35 useable gallons onboard. Where I used to instruct we always used to just have it filled to tabs unless we were going on a longer xc or the sort

I'm planning on stopping by the airport at some point today to update my gps database, granted my plane is a 182 but the tabs visibly look the same in the 172S/182T I'll take a picture of it and post it up later tonight if no one has beaten me to it by then!
 
Ryanb said:
Depending on the aircraft it kinda looks like a small "L" shaped bracket inside the neck of the fuel tank. I don't have any photos of it unfortunately.
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That is what it looks like on the Pipers. Pretty sure the Cessnas do it differently.
 
In the C177RG there are vent holes in the filler neck tube. We require that plane to be filled "to the holes" when put away at the end of each flight.
 
My 172 didn't have tabs,in the summer I would fill to the bottom of the fill pipe.
 
I use the tank seam as my reference of where the fuel is at in a 172 (don't know about the newer ones). You need to look in with a light and to the side of the tank to see the seam. It's basically half tank.

No clue WTH the tabs would mean.
 
Ryanb said:
Depending on the aircraft it kinda looks like a small "L" shaped bracket inside the neck of the fuel tank. I don't have any photos of it unfortunately.
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Does the chain for the fuel cap attach to that L bracket?
 
iflyvfr said:
Does the chain for the fuel cap attach to that L bracket?
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Again, it depends on the airplane. Some have the chain and some just screw down. I've used both and honestly, I haven't paid that much attention to where the chain connects. Hopefully someone else can chime in on that.
 
I've seen the tabs on 172s, don't recall the model though. Seems like the 152 had it too but I'm unsure. Never seen one chained down, was just there.
 
Restart 172s have them, earlier models do not. In practice I find them unacceptably inaccurate, and when I tell line guys to fill to the tabs, I get overfueled, every time, often by 30 minutes or more. Which sucks when there are three adults in the plane.

These days I always use a fuel stick, and ask for fuel in the form of gallons in each tank.
 
jesse said:
I use the tank seam as my reference of where the fuel is at in a 172 (don't know about the newer ones). You need to look in with a light and to the side of the tank to see the seam. It's basically half tank.

No clue WTH the tabs would mean.
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When I was working the ramp "tabs" on a Cessna means the bottom of the fill neck.

@Greg Bockelman is correct.

Maybe @overdrive148 has heard that as well?
 
jesse said:
I use the tank seam as my reference of where the fuel is at in a 172 (don't know about the newer ones). You need to look in with a light and to the side of the tank to see the seam. It's basically half tank.

No clue WTH the tabs would mean.
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Well someone thought it meant something, from the 172S POH:
upload_2016-12-14_21-0-6.png

I searched the POH and the only two places 'indicator tab' are used are on two such placards.

Also here in the POH it is implied that we know what it is:

"REDUCED TANK CAPACITY
The airplane may be serviced to a reduced capacity to permit
heavier cabin loadings. This is accomplished by filling each tank to
the bottom edge of the fuel filler tab, thus giving a reduced fuel load
of 17.5 gallons usable in each tank."
 
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DIY Calibrated fuel stick FTW.
 
Okay, sorry, got challenged to a mini golf tournament immedetiely following dinner and didn't get to the airport, I'll be going for sure tomorrow around lunchtime I'll get the picture then! My apologies....for what it's worth I won't the round of mini golf by one stroke!
 
exncsurfer said:
fill it to the tabs, C172, um, what tabs, where, help ...
OK, so I've tried to see these tabs, with zero success. Can someone take a picture of what I'm looking for? I look inside the fill opening and see space and/or fuel, nothing that looks like a tab.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

It just so happens that I took photos of what you're asking about on a Cessna 172S I rented a few months back. That said, I think "filled to the the tabs" means just to the bottom of the downward extending dohickie (see arrow below, mine was a little above the tab I guess). It's even called a "filler indicator tab" on the wing text:

Cessna172s_Tabs1.jpg


Cessna172s_Tabs2.jpg
 
Mtns2Skies said:
When I was working the ramp "tabs" on a Cessna means the bottom of the fill neck.

@Greg Bockelman is correct.

Maybe @overdrive148 has heard that as well?
Click to expand...

Bottom of the filler neck if there's no tab is what I learned. There are many different tabs and some aircraft don't have them.

Some have a half-shield looking attachment like the one shown above. Some of those have a () in the middle so you have the option of going to the bottom of the tab or the slot for different quantities.

Some have an L tab like these which is pretty self explanatory. I see most of these on Cirrus/Pipers/Barons. Sometimes they get bent backwards by careless line guys and are hard to find at first.
wwtdTo7.png


Some planes like Cardinals and Phenoms have a whole strainer assembly built into the filler neck with slots or dots that are used as reference for fueling (like @rolivi said earlier).

Seen a couple of these that only allow the duckbill nozzle but they are few and far between. Expected one on a Jetprop Malibu that came in recently but it had the smaller 100LL filler necks that you had to dribble jet-A into. No idea why they didn't update them with the engine.
xUbzBch.png


King Airs have a filler neck that looks like CD where the D is a spring loaded flapper that you have to push down with the nozzle to fuel and the C is solid metal. You can fill to the bottom of that or go all the way up but I don't think I've been asked to do that more than once or twice.

I would have more images but I can't believe how hard it is to find actual pictures of filler necks on google. While I was looking I actually found a picture from my 100LL/Jet-A contamination thread on someone else's website! Go figure.
 
as some have already posted pictures here are some more. it should like the bottom of the metal filler neck, in the 172S models if it touches the bottom of that metal piece thats tabs. here is an example on my 182, the bottom of the tabs on mine is 64 useable, the holes are 74, and full is 87

IMG_3294.JPG.jpeg IMG_3297.JPG.jpeg
 
Not sure it if was true, but I remember an instructor telling me the tabs on some of the 172s were the ones with long-range tanks. To the tabs was the normal fuel, above that was for longer flights.
 
If you get desperate enough for a fuel measurement on the 172, take a wooden school ruler (12") and dip it into the tank. For each inch that fuel covers, multiply by 3 and you have your total fuel in that tank.

Ex. Dip the tank and the fuel wets the ruler to the 3" mark, then multiply by 3 = 9 gallons in that tank. :)
 
Ryanb said:
If you get desperate enough for a fuel measurement on the 172, take a wooden school ruler (12") and dip it into the tank. For each inch that fuel covers, multiply by 3 and you have your total fuel in that tank.

Ex. Dip the tank and the fuel wets the ruler to the 3" mark, then multiply by 3 = 9 gallons in that tank. :)
Click to expand...

You sure that works across all of the multiple tank types used over the years?
 
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