M wrote:
I don't have a fuel totalizer. However I won't hesitate to plan a
flight with 30 minute fuel reserve if all the conditions I mentioned in
my previous post are met. Fuel reserve has more to do with weather,
alternate runways, enroute progress check than an arbitrary number of
minute in fuel reserve. One can easily name a situation when even an
hour of fuel reserve isn't safe (say flying a limited range aircraft to
a wide spread IFR area).


Not me, Buddy. I once ran a C-210 out of gas at the end of a 45 minute flight
that started with 1.5 hour's fuel (figured from elapsed time). Beautiful VFR
weather coming back from Freeport, Bahamas into Ft. Pierce, FL. Ended up with
one wing hanging over the edge of the tarmac at Ft. Pierce... another 30
second's fuel and I'd have been fine. As it was, it only injured my pride and
my wallet a bit. No violation from the feds at least....

They teach you not to believe the fuel gauges; to go by elapsed time instead.
Well, I did, and it bit me on the ass. So now I leave with full tanks and take
elapsed time with a grain of salt. And once I start worrying about fuel, I stop
and get some because I don't have enough. As a result, I never really worry
about fuel anymore except in the planning phase of the flight.

30 minutes? Sheeeeiiitttt.


--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
mschnerdatcarolina.rr.com