Flying w/faulty gas gauge

ArtP wrote in message . ..
On Sat, 15 Nov 2003 13:40:58 -0600, "Roger Tracy"
wrote:

Yes. I go by tach time anyway and can peg fuel consumption
pretty close.

Spoken like a high winger. For us low wing types we have to know how
much fuel is in each tank. Since climb, cruise, and descent all use
different amounts of fuel it is hard to know how much is left in each
tank. Sooner or later we come to the point when the POH says switch to
the fullest tank. We need the gauges to know which one that is.

We do? I just use my watch and some scratch paper on my kneeboard.
That gives me a pretty good idea as to which tank has more fuel. The
different fuel burn in climb and descent tend to cancel each other
out. When refueling, I regularly guess the amount required to fill
each tank by 1/2 gal. I just base it all on the average cruise fuel
burn.

I'm sure someone will mention the possibility of a mechanical
problem causing a higher than normal fuel burn. To cover that, my
tank switching methodology works so that if one runs dry prematurely,
I'll still have plenty of gas in the other tank to go to an alternate.

That said, I do use my gauges when I fly, but I don't depend on
them. They're only there to alert me to a possible problem which will
be confirmed by a) one tank running out of gas earlier than expected
or b) verifiying the fuel burn at the next refueling stop.

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