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Fuel Gauge Inop VFR Day



 
 
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  #1  
Old October 14th 05, 07:03 PM
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Default Fuel Gauge Inop VFR Day

I have scheduled a plane for this weekend and reviewed the squak sheet. I
noted that the Fuel Gauge for one of the fuel tanks is Inop. I originally
thought this to be no big deal, but, upon further review of the FAR section
91.205, have found that it is a required peice of equipment for a day VFR
flight. Is my understanding of 91.205 correct? Without operative fuel
gauges for both tanks the plane is not air worthy?

--
Mike Flyin'8
PP-ASEL
Temecula, CA
http://flying.4alexanders.com
  #2  
Old October 14th 05, 07:08 PM
Robert M. Gary
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Yes, plane is not airworthy. We talk a lot about airplanes having bad
fuel gauges but most will read correctly at empty, they just don't
always read right at full. Its good to know if you are leaking fuel. I
had a quick drain develop a pretty bad leak at one point. If this had
been a Cessna (with a "both" selector) it would have drained both
tanks!

-Robert

  #3  
Old October 14th 05, 07:12 PM
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Ok. I was almost sure that was the case and saw no way of simply marking
the indicator as INOP and flying. I understand the "Both" fuel selector
and can see how you could end up draining both tanks due to a leak.
Something as seemingly minor as a fuel gauge leaving an otherwise air
worthy plane on the ground... sigh...



"Robert M. Gary" wrote:
Yes, plane is not airworthy. We talk a lot about airplanes having bad
fuel gauges but most will read correctly at empty, they just don't
always read right at full. Its good to know if you are leaking fuel. I
had a quick drain develop a pretty bad leak at one point. If this had
been a Cessna (with a "both" selector) it would have drained both
tanks!

-Robert


--
Mike Flyin'8
PP-ASEL
Temecula, CA
http://flying.4alexanders.com
  #4  
Old October 14th 05, 07:25 PM
Jose
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Something as seemingly minor as a fuel gauge leaving an otherwise air
worthy plane on the ground... sigh...


Little things can become big things in a hurry.

Jose
--
Money: what you need when you run out of brains.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.
  #5  
Old October 14th 05, 07:26 PM
rps
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As far as I can tell, the regs say that a fuel gage is required and
operable. It doesn't say that it has to be accurate.

My entire primary training (some years ago) was done in ancient 150's,
152's, and 172's whose fuel gages were notoriously unreliable. Unless
the regs (or their interpretation) have changed since then, it's
probably okay to fly with an inaccurate gage.

You may want to check with the FBO/mechanic/owner to find out what they
really mean by "inop." If it's not reading the correct value, you're
probably ok. If something is broken, then the plane's probably
unairworthy.

  #6  
Old October 14th 05, 08:07 PM
George Patterson
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rps wrote:
As far as I can tell, the regs say that a fuel gage is required and
operable. It doesn't say that it has to be accurate.


It says it has to report the quantity of fuel in the tank. It cannot do that if
it is not accurate. A broken gauge certainly doesn't meet this requirement.

George Patterson
Drink is the curse of the land. It makes you quarrel with your neighbor.
It makes you shoot at your landlord. And it makes you miss him.
  #7  
Old October 14th 05, 09:44 PM
Robert M. Gary
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rps wrote:
As far as I can tell, the regs say that a fuel gage is required and
operable. It doesn't say that it has to be accurate.


"accurate" may be argueable if an inspector is looking at your plane
"broken" doesn't seem to be arguable. If you are required to have it,
and its broken, it doesn't sound like you have much room to make an
argument.

-robert

  #8  
Old October 14th 05, 11:40 PM
Ice blonde
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Something as seemingly minor as a fuel gauge leaving an otherwise air
worthy plane on the ground... sigh...


Little things can become big things in a hurry.


Forgive me if I'm being really stupid, but I would say flying with a
broken fuel gauge is more than a little thing? :-/

If you run out of petrol in a car, most likely you stall and get stuck
somewhere, if you run out of fuel when flying, the possibilities are
far worse.

  #9  
Old October 14th 05, 11:47 PM
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Something as seemingly minor as a fuel gauge leaving an otherwise air
worthy plane on the ground... sigh...


Little things can become big things in a hurry.


Forgive me if I'm being really stupid, but I would say flying with a
broken fuel gauge is more than a little thing? :-/

If you run out of petrol in a car, most likely you stall and get stuck
somewhere, if you run out of fuel when flying, the possibilities are
far worse.


No arguement from me. It just seems that a fuel gauge is not as important
as the attitude indicator yet the attitude indicator is not required.
Though fuel is a major part of keeping you in the air as opposed to in the
ground.

--
Mike Flyin'8
PP-ASEL
Temecula, CA
http://flying.4alexanders.com
  #10  
Old October 14th 05, 11:59 PM
Ice blonde
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No arguement from me. It just seems that a fuel gauge is not as important
as the attitude indicator yet the attitude indicator is not required.
Though fuel is a major part of keeping you in the air as opposed to in the
ground.


Interesting, but I suppose logically the fuel itself is more important
than the gauge, just as the pilot is more important than altitude
indicator?

I mean, if you know how much fuel you have, and how long it will keep
you in the air, could you gauge it by time? Also if flying in good
visiblity could you fly without an altitude indicator?

Thanks

 




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