"Mark Hansen" wrote in message
...
[...]
As far as I understand it, the FARs don't say you need to land with
your fuel reserve. I certainly would never want to cut my fuel that
close ... and I sure would not want to fly in a plane with a pilot
that did so.

That's correct. The FARs require departing with a particular reserve,
depending on the nature of the flight, but there is no requirement that you
not use that reserve.

However, any pilot who DOES use that reserve had better a) at least know
that they are doing so, and b) have a good reason for doing so, and for not
terminating the flight early to take on more fuel.

There is, of course, the additional question of whether the FAA-mandated
reserves are sufficient for truly safe operation, but that's up to each
pilot to determine for each flight.

Pete