The float detached from the sender in the right main tank on the
PA32-300 I flew to Florida a year ago. The gauge was therefore inop.
The aircraft is equipped with a FS-450 fuel flow monitor. I used this in
place of the specific fuel gauge. The FS-450 is accurately calibrated to
within 0.2 gallons, much better accurate than the manufacturer's fuel
gauge.
Was I legal?

I also have the JPI FS-450 digital fuel flow gauge in our plane, which is a
hundred times more accurate than the Piper fuel tank gauges. Even with
this very powerful tool in our arsenal, we STILL rely on only the timer, and
visual verification of fuel levels.

Bottom line: If you rely on a fuel gauge (instead of physically looking in
the tank) you are taking a risk. We did not feel that flying with an
inoperative gauge that is "normally" horribly inaccurate was taking any kind
of risk whatsoever.

Mary and I would not have flown the plane if we had not considered doing so
to be utterly, 100% safe. It appears that the regulation we may have
violated (and I'm still not convinced that we did) had little connection to
practical reality.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"