Confession time (long)

In my 10+ years of flying, I've set several personal minimums for
myself. One of them is to never be in the air with much less than
half tanks of fuel. My Skylane burns 11.5gph like clockwork and
holds 65 gallons total in both wings, 55 gallons useable. I usually
fly for about 2.5 or 3 hours and then fill up. I like the safety edge
and besides, it prevents me from having to **** in a bottle!

Admittedly, I'm the judgemental type who sneers at those stories of
pilots running out of gas 5 minutes from their destination or having
to put down in a corn field because they "thought" they had enough
fuel to make it to the airport. Jeez, how could anyone be that
stupid? WELL, ADD ME TO THE LIST!

Sunday was a beautiful day here on the Front Range. High cirrus,
warm temps, calm air. Great day to take the dogs flying out on the
Eastern Plains from Boulder to Kimball, NE. When I preflighted, the
stick showed that I had a half tank of gas in one wing and a little
less than half in the other. Oh yeah, normally I top up after each
flight but the self-serve pump was down after my last flight and I
just put 8565T back in the hanger. First mistake. I told myself
that it's a little less than an hour to get to Kimball so I was fine
and they have a self serve pump there so I can fuel up after landing.

Had a pleasant flight tracking to and then from the Gill VOR to get to
Kimball. The FBO is closed on Sunday and the courtesy wreck was
nowhere to be found. So, we (the dogs and me) walked around the
airport a bit and then decided to head home. I preflighted and
checked the fuel again which showed me down to a little more than a
1/4 tank in each wing. The gauges were more optimistic but, we were
on the ground and I've NEVER trusted the fuel gauges! But, I wanted
to get home (woe is me) and didn't want to fool with the self-serve
pump. I figured I had enough fuel with some to spare and besides, I
could land at Greeley, Fort-Love or Longmont in a pinch. So I took
off. Second mistake and first opportunity lost.

About 15 minutes into the flight I noticed that the fuel gauges had
headed south and were hovering below 1/4 for both tanks. I thought
that I could now turn back to Kimball and fill up just to be safe.
But no, my stick showed that I could make it to Boulder. Second
opportunity lost.

As I was approaching Greeley, I was beginning to really get nervous
about the gauges which were now at 1/8. OK, land at Greeley, fill
up and fly home with a clear conscience. But, I'm only 15 minutes
from Boulder - no problem. I can make it. Third opportunity lost.

Now, in addition to nervously watching the gauges which I was sure
were moving every second toward empty, I was also scanning more
intensely for an emergency landing site and going over procedures. I
was doing this even as I passed Fort Collins - Loveland where I had
another chance to land! Ultimate stupidity and fourth opportunity
lost. My rationalization: I'm only 10 minutes from Boulder.

As I got to Longmont, one needle was close to empty and the other was
hovering below 1/8. Hell, I'm just 5 minutes from Boulder - I can
make it. Fifth opportunity lost.

I was sweating as I entered the pattern at Boulder realizing that if
it all quit now, at least I could make the runway. Flew a tight
pattern and dropped down with 40 degrees of flaps. I can say that
I've never been so happy to be on the ground! I taxied to the pumps
and filled up. Put a total of 44 gallons in. Yes, the gauges were
all wrong - not a surprise. My fuel stick, not exactly a precision
instrument, was off. I still had a little less than an hour's
reserve.

However, it could have gone 180 degrees in the opposite direction if
the head winds were fierce, I didn't lean properly or any number of
other circumstances. I took a needless risk for absolutely no reason
than the dreaded get-home-itis. This was the slap in the face, wake
up call and cold water all in one. I had 5 chances to avoid what
could have been a potential disaster and I just kept going. Never
again will I put myself in this situation. It's not worth the risk
and certainly not the stomach stress!

Dogs can fly. (always with half tanks)
http://www.flyingmutts.com