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Most experienced CFI runs out of gas



 
 
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  #1  
Old November 11th 04, 09:21 AM
Robert M. Gary
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Default Most experienced CFI runs out of gas

The local news is reporting that a local CFI (with over 30,000 hours
of instruction giving since the early 1960's) ran out of gas just
short of the airport after picking up a P210 and flying back from
Texas to California. Boy, if it can happen to him, it can happen to
anyone. It will be interesting to see the final facts. Perhaps the
plane was burning way more gas than it should have (the plane had been
bought that day).

-Robert
  #3  
Old November 11th 04, 03:42 PM
Marco Leon
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Cessna 210's are notorious for running out of gas. Do some web searches. It
has something to do with the fuel tanks and how level the plane is during
refueling. One of my CFI's has it happen to him and I helped him research
the issue. The FAA took no action against him as a result.

Marco

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
om...
The local news is reporting that a local CFI (with over 30,000 hours
of instruction giving since the early 1960's) ran out of gas just
short of the airport after picking up a P210 and flying back from
Texas to California. Boy, if it can happen to him, it can happen to
anyone. It will be interesting to see the final facts. Perhaps the
plane was burning way more gas than it should have (the plane had been
bought that day).

-Robert



  #5  
Old November 11th 04, 05:26 PM
Michael
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(Robert M. Gary) wrote
The local news is reporting that a local CFI (with over 30,000 hours
of instruction giving since the early 1960's) ran out of gas just
short of the airport after picking up a P210 and flying back from
Texas to California. Boy, if it can happen to him, it can happen to
anyone. It will be interesting to see the final facts. Perhaps the
plane was burning way more gas than it should have (the plane had been
bought that day).


I know a few people who have had engine stoppage occur due to excess
air in the fuel lines Interestingly, none of them simply forgot
and overflew their range.

One had a carburetor leaking fuel, thus dramatically increasing
consumption. He had paidto have it overhauled, but when it was torn
apart there wasn't a single part in there that was correct for make
and model AND within specs. NTSB called it pilot error.

One had fuel siphoned (stolen) from his tanks. Fortunately he ran a
tank dry way early, switched to another tank, and landed short.

I've had my airplane misfueled due to a slope. As above - I ran a
tank dry, unexpectedly, switched to another tank and landed short.

Note that if either of us had been running on 'both' there would have
been an accident.

The reality is that we have a dumb way of dealing with fuel. We use
the clock. It's dumb because it assumes we know the fuel burn and
that nothing is leaking. Too many assumptions, too easy to go wrong.
What we need are accurate fuel gauges that are cheap enough to make
retrofits sensible. As long as they have to be FAA certified, that
won't happen.

Michael
  #7  
Old November 11th 04, 07:49 PM
PaulH
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There can be plenty of reasons for this besides pilot error. A while
back one of my fuel drains developed a slow leak, and there are
probably a dozen other possibilities.
  #10  
Old November 11th 04, 08:39 PM
Dylan Smith
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In article , Michael wrote:
The reality is that we have a dumb way of dealing with fuel. We use
the clock. It's dumb because it assumes we know the fuel burn and
that nothing is leaking. Too many assumptions, too easy to go wrong.
What we need are accurate fuel gauges that are cheap enough to make
retrofits sensible. As long as they have to be FAA certified, that
won't happen.


Fuel gauges in many planes *are* good enough, though. There are some
that are terrible (I've never flown a C172 with a fuel gauge that was in
any way useful), but many are fine. The trouble is (especially with old
planes) you have to fly them a few times and check the fuel gauges to
get any idea of whether they are any good.

My old C140 had mechanical fuel gauges. They were very accurate. Other
planes I've found good fuel gauges in - Grumman Tigers/Cheetas, the old
1960 C182 we had in the flying club, Beechcraft (both the Bonanza and
Musketeer I've got to fly had fuel gauges that were worth something).
The fuel gauge in the Auster I tow gliders with is very good. It's a
cork with a little stick indicator on which protrudes out of the top of
the fuel tank!

I don't just use time, I also monitor the fuel gauges. A good job too -
when I was new to our club's old C182, I *thought* it was full of fuel
(visual inspection showed less than an inch between the liquid and the
filler, which was full for my plane). Since it only had 55 gallon tanks,
it's not hard for a cross country to be the full IFR range.

My usual practise is to time AND check the gauges. If the fuel gauges
show less fuel than I think I should have, it's a cause for concern. On
this particular flight, I noted that at the point I should have had half
a tank, I had 2/3rds of a tank indicated on the fuel gauge.
Either the gauges were wrong, or I didn't have as much fuel as I should.
I elected to land at the next airfield to check it out.
Good job too - I had about 45 minutes less fuel than I
thought I really had when I left. If I had pressed onto my desired
destination just using my stopwatch as a fuel gauge, I would have
arrived with about 10 minutes of fuel remaining. Diversions, holding, go
arounds etc. could have easily eaten that in its entirety.

Of course, before takeoff, the gauges were on the 'F' marking, but I
discovered after topping off the tanks at my diversion field that 'F'
isn't really quite full - it's full when the gauge points well past full
(like many car fuel gauges). That last inch was in fact about 10
gallons!
--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"
 




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