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This is purely theoretical - it is not something I am planning for next
Saturday : If you are to fly over an expanse of water or other inhospitible terrain, for a distance long enough to require re-fueling immediately prior (US-Europe ferry, for example) - You watch to see that they put the right fuel in your plane, but you can really only see what's stenciled on the side of the truck, not what's inside (call me paranoid - what if the line guy is someone I owe money to). How long do you have to fly before a fuel contamination problem manifests itself? Does this depend on how empty your tanks were? I'm guessing no - I'm guessing this type of problem - any serious fuel contamination problem - would show up within minutes. Anyone really know this. Anyone here learn this the hard way? I've also noted, though far less certain, a number of vacuum or AI failures take place within the first minutes of flight, not to mention engines throwing rods etc. You can see what I'm getting at - how useful a survival instinct would it be to fly, say 20 minutes, up the Icelandic coast, then double back before setting out across the great void? (Obviously you've already taken the other measures, and you are wearing your survival gear etc). Another question : I read an official accident report (not a newspaper report) in which ground personnel refilled a small plane's oxygen tanks with compressed air before a mountain crossing. The pilot died in the ensuing accident, but miraculously the single passenger survived to confirm the oxygen-related unconciousness of the pilot as the cause of the crash. What could this pilot have done to defend against this "rare but not impossible" event? We assume that in aviation - unlike on the road - we may kill ourselves by our own mistakes, but the likliehood of being killed by the mistakes of others is very far removed. This is certainly justified, however very far removed does not mean impossible, and our preventive measures should try to preclude suce events if we can. G Faris |
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