"chris" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Apr 4, 2:16 am, Jose wrote:
Hey guys.. I have noticed a bit of a theme with these posts.. It
seems people here are saying it's nice to have a stick to dip your
tanks. That makes it sound like it's not standard to have one???

None of the aircraft I fly have sticks. For the tanks, that is. I
carry a stick myself but I don't have calibration marks for some of the
aircraft. The reading could be different depending on the slope of the
tarmac too.

Cherokees have a tab indicating an amount that's about 2/3 full. I
presume (but don't know for sure) that it is relatively accurate over a
wider range of tilt than other fuel levels.

Jose
--
Get high on gasoline: fly an airplane.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

I am not trying to be difficult here, but I just wondered... If they
don't have sticks, how do you know how many hours gas it's got without
using the gauges?? And if that's the case, you are assuming the
gauges are accurate. Without deciding on your preflight that it's got
a certain amount of fuel in it, how can you then know if the # of gals
on the gauge is actually in the tank?? I suppose if you always fly
with the tanks full it's OK, but you can't guarantee on every flight
it will have full tanks...


Pilot supply shops sell calibrated stick type gages for popular aircraft
types.

Ref:
http://www.sportys.com/acb/showdetl....1833&CATID=172

But if your tank is a predictable shape, it wouldn't be too difficult to
make you own. Obviously round or irregular shaped tanks would be more
difficult, but not impossible. If your aircraft has two tanks and a
selector, you could always run one dry and calibrate a stick as you fill the
take in stages. But all the sticks I have seen used in the US were bought at
different FBOs and pilot shops, and were designed and manufactured for the
particular aircraft.

I think the reason the aircraft where I rent don't have them, is that pilots
too often steal them. Same situation for fuel sampling equipment. I have to
carry my own.