AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2017 - 88

P&E

PROFICIENCY

Another limited his
fuel to three hours for
a five-hour trip because
he didn't want to be
over the aircraft's
maximum gross
weight.

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Safety Institute's suggestion that you land
with an hour of fuel in your tanks. Most of
you reading this will do that, because you
read safety articles and make mental notes
about other pilots' problems.
The FAA does not require aircraft to
land with an hour of fuel. You can fly under
visual conditions and have only enough fuel
to fly at cruise speed another 30 minutes in
daytime, or 45 minutes at night.
Those flying on instrument flight plans
have an extra incentive-a what-if scenario.
In the air, the instrument pilot can't help
but think, What if I am told to hold? What if
there is traffic backed up at my destination
airport? What if I get a new routing as soon
as I start to taxi at the departure airport that
is longer than the route I had planned? That
sort of scary realization helps to encourage IFR pilots to carry more fuel than is
required. Yet all they legally need is enough
fuel to reach the intended destination, then
fly to the alternate airport, and still have 45
minutes of fuel left.
Can you imagine how frightening 30
minutes or even 45 minutes of fuel looks
on your fuel gauge? The needle will be
very close to empty. Why not aim for a
fuel gauge that is a more comforting sight?
One flight instructor suggests to his
students that an hour of fuel is a lot safer
than FAA minimums, and asks them to
estimate how much fuel is required for
30 minutes of flight. The student realizes
the amount of fuel is about five gallons for
most trainer aircraft, distributed between
two tanks, and that the fuel gauges are
going to bounce on Empty. "When I fly I
plan on two-hour legs," he said. "That's all
my bladder can stand."
AOPA
ALTON K. MARSH is a freelance aviation

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writer and former senior editor of AOPA
Pilot.
88 | AOPA PILOT September 2017


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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2017

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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202307
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202306
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202305
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202303
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202302
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202301
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202212
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202211
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202210
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202209
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202208
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202205
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202204
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202202
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202201
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202111
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_202109
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_201912
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_201803
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_201711
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_201703
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_201512
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/pilot_201511
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