Flying with fuel leak?

"Roger Long" om wrote in message ...
I was looking over the web site of a flying club that posts the minutes of
their meetings. One item said that fuel was running out of the wing of
their 172 when the flaps were fully extended because the overflow drain was
broken. They asked that the tanks not be completely filled until this could
be fixed.

Am I just overly compulsive about maintenance or are these people nuts?


Kinda nuts. A wing with a puddle of evaporating gas inside is not
something I'd want to be flying around under. When my 172 had that
problem (left wing), the gas pooled in the wing and when I held a less
than perfectly coordinated right turn, gas dripped through the
headliner onto my arm. That convinced me to park it.

On less that fully filled tanks, some gas will get into the overflow
when manuevers are performed.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)