Dan

From an 'old' pilot.

We used to fly 30 minutes on a tank and then switch to other tank
(back and forth). This manual switching kept the fuel inbalance to a
max of 30 minutes fuel which was very manageable. Trying to feed from
both tanks for any period of time always caused a inbalance.

Also knew fuel burn and could compare fuel used and remaining, to fuel
gauge.

For landing, fuel was switched to fullest tank (check list item).

In 'heavy iron' and max range, would run tank dry. In GA, never
planned that long a duration so never had a engine stoppage caused by
empty tank.

Safety is as safety does.

Big John

On 4 Dec 2003 17:19:07 -0800, (Dan Thomas)
wrote:

"Tony Cox" wrote in message thlink.net...
"Koopas Ly" wrote in message
om...

The only time that fuel is set to one particular tank is on the
ground. I've never used fuel from only one tank in flight. Why would
someone do that?



Some models of 172 *require* you to select a single tank
above 5000', due (supposedly) to vapor lock problems.

Check your POH.


Lots of old pilots didn't trust fuel gauges, which is still a
wise attitude. They'd sometimes fly on one tank until it ran dry and
the engine quit, then switch to the other and know exactly how much
they had left and how much they'd burned. This doesn't work well if
the tanks are very far off the airplane's centreline, as the imbalance
can require increases aileron input, causing more drag and tiring the
pilot. It can also panic passengers and create unpleasant cabin odors
and extra janitorial work after the flight.

Dan