Fuel Gauge Inop VFR Day

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.

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

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

"Ice blonde" wrote:
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


Fuel is no doubt more important than the fuel gauge. Altitude indicator is
a required instrument for VFR Day but the Attitude indicator is not.

--
Mike Flyin'8
PP-ASEL
Temecula, CA
http://flying.4alexanders.com

Fuel is no doubt more important than the fuel gauge. Altitude indicator is
a required instrument for VFR Day but the Attitude indicator is not.

LOL and there was me thinking you just can't spell :-)

OK, do enlighten me about the ATTITUDE indicator??

Regards

Ice blonde wrote:
OK, do enlighten me about the ATTITUDE indicator??

it used to be called 'artificial horizon'...

as for fuel gages: I have always been told never to
trust the thing; if you know how much fuel you have
when you depart (which you should), and do simple
arithmetics (say, it will burn so much an hour during
the climb, so much during cruise and descent -- numbers
which you get from the performance data of the aircraft
documentation which you should of course study) -- and
keep good track of your progress during the flight -- you
can guestimate how much fuel you'll have when you arrive
quite accurately (and with a bit of experience with one
specific aircraft you'll get more accurate). It's a fun
little game to play when flying cross country, see how
close one can predict fuel usage (which can be verified
when refueling at the end) -- i.e., with of course a
comfortable reserve (I don't like surprises);

--Sylvain

On 14 Oct 2005 23:05:55 GMT, wrote:

"Ice blonde" wrote:
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


Fuel is no doubt more important than the fuel gauge. Altitude indicator is
a required instrument for VFR Day but the Attitude indicator is not.


Why woudl you ever need an attitude indicator for VFR flight?
Irrespective of the innop instrument, don't you always use time to
"guage" how much fuel you've burned?

Technically speaking, I think the guage only needs to be accurate when
empty (I may be wrong on this but remember being taught something of
this nature).

z

"zatatime" wrote in message
...
Technically speaking, I think the guage only needs to be accurate when
empty (I may be wrong on this but remember being taught something of
this nature).

That's a common misconception, but it's simply not true. The certification
regulations require that the fuel gauge correctly indicate the quantity of
fuel in the tank.

As has been mentioned elsewhere in this thread, they don't say to what
accuracy they need to indicate that quantity. But they do need to indicate.

Pete

On Sat, 15 Oct 2005 00:25:06 -0700, "Peter Duniho"
wrote:

"zatatime" wrote in message
.. .
Technically speaking, I think the guage only needs to be accurate when
empty (I may be wrong on this but remember being taught something of
this nature).

That's a common misconception, but it's simply not true. The certification
regulations require that the fuel gauge correctly indicate the quantity of
fuel in the tank.

As has been mentioned elsewhere in this thread, they don't say to what
accuracy they need to indicate that quantity. But they do need to indicate.

Pete


Thanks.
z

Peter Duniho wrote:
"zatatime" wrote in message
...
Technically speaking, I think the guage only needs to be accurate when
empty (I may be wrong on this but remember being taught something of
this nature).

That's a common misconception, but it's simply not true. The certification
regulations require that the fuel gauge correctly indicate the quantity of
fuel in the tank.

The rule that people misinterpret as them having to be "only accurate at
empty" just says that the Empty mark is supposed to mean zero usable
fuel (rather than bone dry).