On Aug 10, 4:15 am, Mxsmanic wrote:
Rocky Stevens writes:
Oh and not for nothing, but based on the amount of NTSB reports that
indicate lack of fuel was the cause for the accident, I would say fuel
management is a very important issue. The ASF would agree; that is
probably why they have a section on it (http://www.aopa.org/asf/
safety_topics.html#fuel).

Reading about the prevalence of fuel-related accidents was what prompted my
question.

It is shocking to me how many of these accidents exist; and it ain't
just new pilots. For example, the head instructor of the accelerated
school that was the subject of "getting my license in 7 days" (http://
http://www.popularmechanics.com/blog...s/2092132.html) died
because he ran out of gas. Right now if you were to ask me where my
greatest risk of dying lay, I would say it would be doing something
stupid like landing on the wrong runway or something (just the other
day I told ATC that I was midfield when it turns out I was really on
the upwind. Yeah, I've got a ways to go). I could also see myself
getting lost, and running out of fuel that way. First thing I do once
I get my ticket is buying a GPS.

A large number of accidents are not because of running out of fuel per
se, but bad "fuel management," i.e. forgetting to switch tanks. I'm
not quite sure why the two tanks are not connected in such a way that
they drain at an equal rate. In my current plane I do not have to
worry about that since I only have one tank.