Highflyer wrote:
I remember one time in a light twin. I decided to run the auxilliary tanks
dry before returning to the mains so that I would have all of my remaining
fuel in the mains for the approach and landing. I flew an hour on the mains
to get some dump space for the overflow from the injectors and then switched
to the aux tanks. After churning along on the auxs for some little time the
right engine quit. As I was reaching for the fuel selector to switch it
back to the main the left engine quit. The sudden total cessation of engine
noise in midtrip got my passengers rather upset until I got them both making
appropriate noises again and explained to them what had happened and why I
did it that way. :-) Mea Maxima Culpa ...


I had essentially the same thing happen to me one night coming back from
Cleveland in a C-402. I'd been up for almost 24 hours and was exhausted (the
flight had been scheduled for early the previous morning, cancelled and then
rescheduled as I was getting ready for bed). I had flown all night in a mix of
clouds, occasional icing, and VFR. I was moving auto parts from Shelby, NC to
CLE, then back to CLT (my home base). No passengers; just me.

I took off from Cleveland IFR and my attitude indicator croaked. There was
another one on the copilot's side but I was on top before long so it was no big
deal. I settled down to cruise on the mains. After an hour of hand flying, I
switched over to the auxillary tanks. Then I fell asleep. I woke up to some
yaw and less noise... the left engine had quit! I reached over to switch tanks
and hit the boost pump to get a restart. Then the other one quit before I could
switch that tank. Holy ****! That got my attention. I switched tanks on the
right engine and hit that boost pump. By that time the left engine started. A
moment later the right one came back. I remember complimenting myself on the
accuracy of my fuel leaning.

Whew! I swore to God I'd never fall asleep again while flying. I broke my
promise twice before completing that flight.

What do they say? Any flight that doesn't end up on the 11 o'clock news
couldn't have been all that bad. It wasn't that great though... I fought 70
knot headwinds up to Cleveland (rode home at mach two), suffered a right brake
failure, failed attitude indicator, got to play with ice, had the company credit
card denied twice (at Charlie West and Cleveland), and ran the tanks dry. I
really prefer the dull life.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE