I just refuel my own plane. I do have a plane that not all lineman have seen
so it usually doesn't take much convincing.

When I check in, I either ask for fuel right then and go back out and wait
for it or I tell them that I'll order the fuel when I get back. Either way,
I'm there for it.

As they drive up, I have the ground clip pulled out and clipped on before
they get out of their truck. As they are zeroing the counter and unwinding
the hose, I'm climbing on my plane so all they have to do is hand it to me.

I have only had two guys challenge me that it was against their policy for
them to let me fuel. In both cases, I simply said "I understand. Well I
guess unless you want to call your boss for an exception, that'll do it
then. Sorry to bring you out here for nothing." In both cases, they relented
and handed me the fuel nozzle.

In one of the above cases, the guy actually said it was against the law for
him to let me do the fueling. I didn't argue with him but I did say, "That
would be incorrect but I would believe that you have a company polciy
against it. Is that what you are thinking of?" He said, "Yea, Yea, that's
what I meant. Policy. Stupid policy. After all, it's your plane. Here you
go. You want me to get the windshield while your fueling?"

--
-------------------------------
Travis
Lake N3094P
PWK

"Dudley Henriques" wrote in message
nk.net...
Every owner probably handles things like this differently. I agree it can
be a real hassle when somebody puts a nice dent or ding on that nice new
Imron paint job you just forked out 10 grand for.
There are two scenarios involved with this type of thing; one at your home
field; the other on the road.
It's a lot easier to handle it on your home field. Just walk into the
flight office and very nicely but with some authority state quite clearly
exactly how you wish your airplane to be handled. If using a rag between a
hose nozzle and your paint is something you prefer, tell them.
I've done this for fifty years and never had a problem.
On the other hand, getting serviced at strange fields has it's risks.
Trust me I know :-)
You can always leave explicit instructions with the line office that
define any concerns you might have. Also, something I always did was to
have a prepared notice on a neatly done signboard that I left showing in
plain sight inside my canopy for the line people to see asking for rags
between metal at all times when servicing my airplane. This also served me
well through the years, as did the nice little pitot cover my wife made
for me out of red fabric with a nice lightning bolt sewn on both sides
with the following sewn into it........."DON'T TOUCH THIS. HIGH VOLTAGE"
:-))))
Worked like a charm!!!
Dudley Henriques


"Kyle Boatright" wrote in message
...
How do the rest of you deal with careless linemen? The kind who scratch
your airplane or chip the paint because they are either careless or have
not been properly trained on how to avoid damaging aircraft when
refueling 'em.

Case in point - this afternoon I stopped by the airport to prep for a
trip to the beach tomorrow. I grabbed a couple of maps and the handheld
gps from the airplane while the lineman was getting ready to fuel the
airplane. By the time I grabbed those things, the lineman had already
filled the left tank, and there was a brand spankin' new paint chip near
the fuel filler on the tank. How do I know it was brand new? Because I'd
just wiped off a nice collection of bugs from the airplane, and it wasn't
chipped then... Anyway, I eased over to see how he was coming with the
other tank, and he had the entire 10" long nozzle in the right tank and
was using a notch in the fuel nozzle's handle to catch the edge of the
fuel filler neck to provide a mechanical stop.

I say "hey, let me show you something" and show him that the sharp corner
of the casting is resting on the fuel filler. He pulls the nozzle out of
the tank, and there is a noticable mark on the paint where he was resting
the nozzle. He said he didn't realize he was doing that. I didn't point
out the new chip on the other wing, which I speculate was caused by
either the same technique, or the other technique I've seen many times,
where the lineman puts the nozzle into the tank at a 45 degree angle, and
the weight of the nozzle rests on the painted edge of the fuel filler.

This is my home airport, and the guy was nice enough, so I didn't make an
issue out of it, but it is really frustrating to have avoidable dings and
chips on your airplane when it costs $5k or $10k to have the thing
repainted...

BTW, self serve is not an option at my home field, which is why I usually
go elsewhere for fuel. That and the high prices that are caused by
having to pay the "fuel truck guy" to hang around the airport all day
long when there really isn't much fuel being sold...

Also, now that I'm giving this more thought, I need to see if the guy
dented the bottom of my fuel tanks by sticking the nozzle so far in
there... Sheesh...