Flying a PA-28 140 from Maine to Georgia in a week end ...

I guess I'm getting better...

I just got back from a trip from KSAV (Savannah, GA) to KLIT (Little
Rock, AR) and back. I bought fuel three times and never took more than
40 gallons to top it off.

I got the transponder fixed before the trip... So I think we did a
pretty safe and sane trip with no squaks and didn't stretch our luck...

Sure is nice coming back east and getting 130 kts ground speed !!!

I've really enjoyed all the discussion on this thread.

To the original poster -- baloney.

(You may insert or replace with your favorite obscenity, profanity and/or
invective in the natural language of your choice)

1) Using the phrase "the most professional approach" is a misnomer.
I know of full-time ATPs who use their personal single piston engine
to commute to their full-time job as commercial pilots (please note,
I did NOT use the term "professional pilot") who would NEVER, EVER
consider taking off in the ASEL without full fuel tanks.

2) Our little spam cans do not use the same quantity (translate to
the price tag) of fuel, nor do we have the same level of accuracy
and support in weather, route and fuel planning that the charter
and carriers have.

3) Based on your numerous criteria to land with only 30 min of fuel
left, why bother?

So how many people here have taken off in a ASEL without full tanks?

And your airplane, whatever the fuel burn is, changes from flight to
flight, at the same power setting, that you can't even predict how much
fuel you burn after a 3 hour flight? That's called sloppy.


1) Using the phrase "the most professional approach" is a misnomer.
I know of full-time ATPs who use their personal single piston engine
to commute to their full-time job as commercial pilots (please note,
I did NOT use the term "professional pilot") who would NEVER, EVER
consider taking off in the ASEL without full fuel tanks.

2) Our little spam cans do not use the same quantity (translate to
the price tag) of fuel, nor do we have the same level of accuracy
and support in weather, route and fuel planning that the charter
and carriers have.

3) Based on your numerous criteria to land with only 30 min of fuel
left, why bother?

In article . com,
"M" wrote:

So how many people here have taken off in a ASEL without full tanks?

I prefer to empty my tanks before taking off. It generally makes the rest
of the flight more enjoyable.

M wrote:

So how many people here have taken off in a ASEL without full tanks?

I did it all the time in my Skylane. 80 gallons is a lot of fuel to
tanker around for short trips.

Matt

Roy Smith wrote:

In article . com,
"M" wrote:


So how many people here have taken off in a ASEL without full tanks?


I prefer to empty my tanks before taking off. It generally makes the rest
of the flight more enjoyable.

How many tanks do you have? :-)

Matt

In article . com,
"M" wrote:

So how many people here have taken off in a ASEL without full tanks?

More than once. It helps increase the number of paxs or the general
climb performance.

--
Bob Noel
Looking for a sig the
lawyers will hate

M wrote:

So how many people here have taken off in a ASEL without full tanks?

And your airplane, whatever the fuel burn is, changes from flight to
flight, at the same power setting, that you can't even predict how much
fuel you burn after a 3 hour flight? That's called sloppy.

Density altitude.
Winds.
Terrain.
On-board weight.

"M" wrote in message
ups.com...

So how many people here have taken off in a ASEL without full tanks?

The VAST majority of the time, both commercially and privately.

And your airplane, whatever the fuel burn is, changes from flight to
flight,

No. It doesn't

at the same power setting, that you can't even predict how much
fuel you burn after a 3 hour flight?

Can predict to 1/10th of a gallon after 5 hr flight.


That's called sloppy.

You're called uninformed.

Karl

Recently, M posted:

So how many people here have taken off in a ASEL without full tanks?

What's so unusual about that? If you know you won't need the fuel, why
carry it?

Neil