Parking lot landing in Dallas.

[Challenged]

http://www.fox4news.com/news/small-plane-lands-in-north-dallas-parking-lot
Interesting that he said he was losing fuel, I almost always just go on time and it's pretty rare that I reference my fuel gauges instead of a clock or my JPI. We all know how accurate these reports usually are though, so we'd probably need to reference Live ATC or something for the real scoop. Certainly a nice job, especially if this was at 11PM at night.

 

[3393RP]

About twenty years ago I was driving on US 75 on my morning commute in Plano, on the highway at Parker and off at Plano Parkway. As I was rolling to a stop at the light on Plano Parkway, I looked to the right and there was a Mooney sitting in a parking spot in front of CompUSA.

The pilot had run out of fuel at 2 AM, landed on 75, coasted down the off ramp, and pulled into the parking lot.

While his landing and parking skills were impressive, his fuel management skills...not so much.

 

[SCCutler]

Referencing the occurrence: he was reportedly flying from Tupelo to Weatherford in a Cherokee 140, which has a fuel capacity of 36 gallons. Flying westbound, I worry that he "lost" most of his fuel from the exhaust pipes, but guess we'll see...

 

[steingar]

It must be because his fuel indicator was mis-labelled. Thank goodness for that AD!

 

[flyingron]

I always use the most pessimistic of: my watch, the fuel gauge, and the JPI flow totals. I've had fuel leaks before (twice) and I had a friend put a Cardinal down on a highway because of a cracked carb that ran the fuel out a bit faster than anticipated.

 

[GRG55]

@flyingron, so what's the status of the Navion? We gave not had an update for a while (although I could easily have missed it). Back in the air soon?

 

[Kansas Flyer]

Referencing the occurrence: he was reportedly flying from Tupelo to Weatherford in a Cherokee 140, which has a fuel capacity of 36 gallons. Flying westbound, I worry that he "lost" most of his fuel from the exhaust pipes, but guess we'll see...

Cherokee 140's have 50 Gallon Tanks. There are tabs in the tanks to mark 36 Gallons which is considered "standard" fuel.

Flying solo I would assume that he departed with full fuel which should have allowed him to make it unless the headwinds were particularly strong. That's still a pretty long hop and I personally would have planned a fuel stop so I could be sure of making it. I'm sure I would also want to get out and stretch my legs if nothing else.

I wonder if he ran a tank dry and didn't think to switch over, there is no "both" setting on the Cherokee fuel system.

 

[simtech]

Registrations show it as a 180 though the front cowl sure looks like a 140. On flightaware he flew to Tupelo Monday morning non stop and showed 3.5 hours. On the trip back he apparently didnt make it. But I would say you don't just start noticing you're losing fuel 3.5 hours into a flight. I'm wondering if he was only filled to the tabs, 36 gallons will give him about the time he flew...hard to say. Glad he made a successful forced landing.

 

[Pilawt]

Registrations show it as a 180 though the front cowl sure looks like a 140.

It's a Cherokee 180 B, before the restyled fiberglass cowl. The Cherokee Bs all looked like 140s on the outside. See, e.g., Goldfinger.

 

[SCCutler]

Yep, I realized later (today) that I had seen an open baggage compartment, the existence of which meant it could not have been a 140. And, as noted above, it appears to have actually been an early 180.

Still a long hop, with (notably) a whole lot of good fuel stops along the way.

Be interesting to see what develops.