facthunter Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 It's one of the major causes of engine failure.( Including wrong selection). You don't just pull over to the side of the road. Nev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff13 Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 It's one of the major causes of engine failure.( Including wrong selection). You don't just pull over to the side of the road. Nev What do you mean by (including wrong selection). I assume that I am missing something obviouus here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff13 Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 It's one of the major causes of engine failure.( Including wrong selection). You don't just pull over to the side of the road. Nev What do you mean by (including wrong selection). I assume that I am missing something obviouus here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ozzie Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 What do you mean by (including wrong selection). I assume that I am missing something obviouus here. left,right,both,off. don't confuse fuel starvation with fuel exhaustion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ozzie Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 What do you mean by (including wrong selection). I assume that I am missing something obviouus here. left,right,both,off. don't confuse fuel starvation with fuel exhaustion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 A perfectly good engine needs fuel. MANAGEMENT of fuel is critical which includes having enough to complete the flight, (planning with required reserves) not venting it overboard or failing to select a tank with fuel in it (getting air into the system). Nev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 A perfectly good engine needs fuel. MANAGEMENT of fuel is critical which includes having enough to complete the flight, (planning with required reserves) not venting it overboard or failing to select a tank with fuel in it (getting air into the system). Nev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yenn Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 Coming in to land tells me he was in the circuit. Another one who can't glide to land if anything untoward happens. Why get so low that you can't make the srtip? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yenn Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 Coming in to land tells me he was in the circuit. Another one who can't glide to land if anything untoward happens. Why get so low that you can't make the srtip? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakej Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 A good policy, with strips that are surrounded by rocks trees etc, is to stay close enough to glide in IMO. That's what I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakej Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 A good policy, with strips that are surrounded by rocks trees etc, is to stay close enough to glide in IMO. That's what I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff13 Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 A perfectly good engine needs fuel. MANAGEMENT of fuel is critical which includes having enough to complete the flight, (planning with required reserves) not venting it overboard or failing to select a tank with fuel in it (getting air into the system). Nev Thank you. I didn't actually miss it, I just thought it was so obvious that it shouldn't happen. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff13 Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 A perfectly good engine needs fuel. MANAGEMENT of fuel is critical which includes having enough to complete the flight, (planning with required reserves) not venting it overboard or failing to select a tank with fuel in it (getting air into the system). Nev Thank you. I didn't actually miss it, I just thought it was so obvious that it shouldn't happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pearo Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 A perfectly good engine needs fuel. MANAGEMENT of fuel is critical which includes having enough to complete the flight, (planning with required reserves) not venting it overboard or failing to select a tank with fuel in it (getting air into the system). Nev Ok, I am going to fess up here and say I have cocked up twice now. And I suggest before people criticize, please know that I am already aware of the problem, and I have addressed it. We all make mistakes. In my opinion, a good pilot will admit to mistakes and learn from that. I am trying to be a good pilot. 1. Was supposed to do a flight to coffs, weather was crap so we headed north to bundaberg instead. I am a student at this point (although I consider myselft a student for life), and whilst not a training flight per se, I have next to me in the right seat a very experienced instructor. I am a well seasoned sailor, so I get weather. Heading back from bundaberg we hit the front that stopped us going south. I did not expect is so soon, neither did the BOM, neither did the pilot sitting next to me. In fact, we were one of a group of about 5 aircraft doing the same trip. On the way home, we have a fuel imbalance so we switch to the tank that has more fuel. Getting close to home we are dodging storms and rain squalls, constantly looking at the radar. Somehow both of us missed the fuel situation, and only realised that one tank was low when the alert sounded (g1000). Now my regular checks include monitoring the fuel guages EVERY SINGLE TIME do my nav checks. Also, as I gain my experience I find I carry not much more than the fuel I require for safety reasons, so now I am constantly checking my fuel gauges and cross checking with my fuel plan/log. 2. Not long after I got my RPL, I did a flight out and about just to enjoy flying without the training part. Coming back to the airport, I was greeted with a lot of aircraft coming into land, and somehow in the panic of trying to track all the other aircraft in the circuit I missed my pre landing checks. At the time, I was on one tank when the POH stipulates both (C172S), I realised after I landed. There was no danger at the time, as I had plenty of fuel, but had I been ending a long flight it could have been a different story. Now, I do an informal pre landing check within about 10nm of landing. Then as usual, on downwind (or about 2-3 mile out when straight in, base join at Class C or D) I do my formal pre-landing checklist. Lucky for me, my mistakes have not resulted in bad outcomes. I hope that I learn enough from my errors so that I can prevent future problems. I only have about 150 hours total flying experience to date, so no doubt I will make more mistakes. However I am doing everything I can to prevent it, and I probably take more from other pilots fessing up to their errors than anything else. Also, I find by teaching I become better educated. So me owning up teaches me a lesson and the result is always positive. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pearo Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 A perfectly good engine needs fuel. MANAGEMENT of fuel is critical which includes having enough to complete the flight, (planning with required reserves) not venting it overboard or failing to select a tank with fuel in it (getting air into the system). Nev Ok, I am going to fess up here and say I have cocked up twice now. And I suggest before people criticize, please know that I am already aware of the problem, and I have addressed it. We all make mistakes. In my opinion, a good pilot will admit to mistakes and learn from that. I am trying to be a good pilot. 1. Was supposed to do a flight to coffs, weather was crap so we headed north to bundaberg instead. I am a student at this point (although I consider myselft a student for life), and whilst not a training flight per se, I have next to me in the right seat a very experienced instructor. I am a well seasoned sailor, so I get weather. Heading back from bundaberg we hit the front that stopped us going south. I did not expect is so soon, neither did the BOM, neither did the pilot sitting next to me. In fact, we were one of a group of about 5 aircraft doing the same trip. On the way home, we have a fuel imbalance so we switch to the tank that has more fuel. Getting close to home we are dodging storms and rain squalls, constantly looking at the radar. Somehow both of us missed the fuel situation, and only realised that one tank was low when the alert sounded (g1000). Now my regular checks include monitoring the fuel guages EVERY SINGLE TIME do my nav checks. Also, as I gain my experience I find I carry not much more than the fuel I require for safety reasons, so now I am constantly checking my fuel gauges and cross checking with my fuel plan/log. 2. Not long after I got my RPL, I did a flight out and about just to enjoy flying without the training part. Coming back to the airport, I was greeted with a lot of aircraft coming into land, and somehow in the panic of trying to track all the other aircraft in the circuit I missed my pre landing checks. At the time, I was on one tank when the POH stipulates both (C172S), I realised after I landed. There was no danger at the time, as I had plenty of fuel, but had I been ending a long flight it could have been a different story. Now, I do an informal pre landing check within about 10nm of landing. Then as usual, on downwind (or about 2-3 mile out when straight in, base join at Class C or D) I do my formal pre-landing checklist. Lucky for me, my mistakes have not resulted in bad outcomes. I hope that I learn enough from my errors so that I can prevent future problems. I only have about 150 hours total flying experience to date, so no doubt I will make more mistakes. However I am doing everything I can to prevent it, and I probably take more from other pilots fessing up to their errors than anything else. Also, I find by teaching I become better educated. So me owning up teaches me a lesson and the result is always positive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aldo Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 Also, as I gain my experience I find I carry not much more than the fuel I require for safety reasons, so now I am constantly checking my fuel gauges and cross checking with my fuel plan/log. Pearo Good to see that you are happy to discuss mistakes, I also think it helps with learning. What I don't understand is why you would only carry minimum (or close to it) fuel if you are not restricted by weight. If I'm not weight restricted it is full fuel every time. Remember the following. The three most useless things in aviation 1. Runway behind you 2. Altitude above you 3. Fuel in the bowser. Aldo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabiru Phil Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 I have a fuel check every 30 minutes programmed into my 296 GPS. Phil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poteroo Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 Running low on fuel is one of the very worst experiences one can have as PIC. Your gut tightens up, and your brain jumps from one solution to the other. You say to yourself ... if I get out of this, I'm going to become a reformed pilot......! I won't describe the incidents, but they were early in my professional career - when I was prepared to stretch things to prove just what a genius was running this show. I had so little left on one occasion that I entered the circuit at 4000ft.....just in case. It prompted me to take a great interest in range and endurance charts for my engine, and how to set up power using every instrument available - in those days, MP+RPM,Fuel flow, EGT,CHT,OT. Having your LAME check that your tacho is accurate was one lesson that I learned early - although you can now check this yourself with an optical unit on top of the panel. Becoming more adept at selecting for favourable winds is a huge help in stretching fuel - what a boon is GPS!. Flying perfectly in balance also an essential -so be sure the ball you are using is really accurate and use your trims. I'm pleased to see it mentioned that someone saw problems ahead by flying on one tank in a C172. If Clyde Cessna thought this both necessary and safe - he'd have written it into the POH. You minimise potential mistakes by flying on BOTH. Fly in balance and the tanks usually drain uniformly. Enough said. happy days, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 There are some quite complex fuel systems that are death traps for the ignorant or unwary. Fuel management was usually a 100% pass requirement on a conversion course, as was W & B. I wonder why? Nev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yenn Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 Did he run out of fuel? I havn't seen any report that says it was fuel exhaustion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DGL Fox Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 No I don't think that it has been determined.. David 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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