Running dry?

Greg Copeland wrote:

On take off? Doesn't that mean the PIC failed to properly fuel the plane
rather than invalidate the strategy? How was that not pilot error, pure
and simple?

This was a floatplane operation in Alaska. He landed at an Eskimo hunting camp
to determine where he was. No fuel available. Yes, it was pilot error. His
aircraft had 7 tanks of somewhat indeterminate size. Only one had a gauge. Post
would run one dry after another until he was flying on the one with the gauge.
He was still on number 6 when the engine quit. His floatplane takeoff technique
also left something to be desired, so the plane almost immediately stalled and
went in. Post was crushed by the engine. Rogers was not strapped in.

Me, I prefer to never let the gauges get below 1/8 tank on either of my mains
(and I had no auxiliary tanks in my aircraft). For one thing, that ensures that
I have fuel in that sort of situation even if I forget to switch to the fullest
tank for takeoff.

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.