Flight Training - September 2019 - 16
PREFLIGHT FLIGHT LESSON
BY CHRISTOPHER L. FREEZE
UNLESS YOU'RE ON FIRE
FUEL MANAGEMENT, WARNING LIGHTS, AND CLOSED FUEL PUMPS
WHAT HAPPENED
Here I was, flying long
distances to airports
with no services.
RECOGNIZING THAT ONE OF THE MAJOR CAUSES OF
16 FLIGHT TRAINING SEPTEMBER 2019
BUILD A BUFFER
GAS UP
Fuel management tips
Available fuel is listed
under "service" in an airport's entry in the chart
supplement. Check the
remarks for information
such as, "24 hr self serve
100LL avbl with credit
card."
The AOPA Air Safety
Institute offers these tips
to build in a margin for
fuel consumption:
Land with at least one
hour of fuel in the tanks,
even if it means making
an intermediate stop
before continuing to
your destination.
If you fly an aircraft
you're unfamiliar with,
add one or two gallons
per hour to your computed fuel consumption
until you see how much
the engine actually
burns.
CHRISTOPHER L. FREEZE is a commercial pilot,
flight instructor, and writer living in the Washington, D.C., area.
LEFT: SARAH JONES; ABOVE: STEVE KARP
aircraft accidents is fuel mismanagement, my strategy
is simple: Always overestimate fuel burn and err on
having more fuel. Besides, you can get 100LL at virtually any airport charted to have it, at any time, right?
I was in Maryland on business and looking to
sneak in a bit of personal flying. A friend of mine,
then a flight instructor candidate, tagged along for
a flight down to Kitty Hawk's First Flight Airport
(FFA). We planned an ambitious trek with a southbound fuel stop before arriving at FFA, which has
no services. My co-pilot, however, also wanted to
make another stop farther south, past Cape Hatteras,
to another field on the Outer Banks without fuel. I
noted several fueling options on the sectional chart
for the return flight, so everything appeared set.
The flight and fueling en route to Kitty Hawk
went without incident. Departing there, we enjoyed
a tailwind that got us to the next field almost
instantly. However, when we arrived, my concerns
grew. Virtually every airport I fly to or from in California has avgas for sale. But here I was, flying long
distances to airports with no services.
With few daylight hours remaining and being
hundreds of miles from our destination with a
headwind, we started back home. The winds were
strengthing, and we had spent a long time aloft.
Over Albemarle Sound, we reviewed our fuel
options. Minimizing the dogleg, we
selected Crisfield (W41).
As we approached W41, one of the fuel
annunciator lights illuminated. I did my
best to shrug it off, as, based on the calculations, we should have plenty of fuel.
Upon landing, we taxied to the small
terminal shortly after 5 p.m., hopeful to
fill our fuel tanks. But we learned the selfserve pumps at W41 are disabled when
unattended, and we had just missed their
operating hours by minutes.
We selected a towered airport 25 miles
away. But as we lined up on the runway,
the other fuel warning annunciator lit up.
Now I was starting to really worry. We
should have plenty of fuel, so why were both
annunciators screaming at me? We climbed
to a low cruise altitude and constantly
scanned for possible fields as the two red
lights blinked on and off in a flight that
seemed to last an eternity.
We landed at the other airport and
taxied problem-free to the FBO, where we
were promptly fueled. As we decompressed
indoors, we deliberated on how much we
would need, given all the warnings, concluding that it must be more than 40 gallons
(the Cessna has a usable capacity of 46).
When the fueler handed us the slip, I
asked, "How much over 40 did we take?"
"Only 37, gentlemen."
My calculations were correct. Despite
every cockpit warning telling us we were
low on gas, we still had not eaten into the
calculated fuel reserve.
The experience demonstrated the
power of overestimation and building in
a safe buffer when it comes to fuel-living
the principle of "the only time you have too
much fuel is when you are on fire." However,
I will make sure I consult the chart supplement for operating hours on fuel service.
Flight Training - September 2019
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - September 2019
Contents
Flight Training - September 2019 - Intro
Flight Training - September 2019 - Cover1
Flight Training - September 2019 - Cover2
Flight Training - September 2019 - Contents
Flight Training - September 2019 - 2
Flight Training - September 2019 - 3
Flight Training - September 2019 - 4
Flight Training - September 2019 - 5
Flight Training - September 2019 - 6
Flight Training - September 2019 - 7
Flight Training - September 2019 - 8
Flight Training - September 2019 - 9
Flight Training - September 2019 - 10
Flight Training - September 2019 - 11
Flight Training - September 2019 - 12
Flight Training - September 2019 - 13
Flight Training - September 2019 - 14
Flight Training - September 2019 - 15
Flight Training - September 2019 - 16
Flight Training - September 2019 - 17
Flight Training - September 2019 - 18
Flight Training - September 2019 - 19
Flight Training - September 2019 - 20
Flight Training - September 2019 - 21
Flight Training - September 2019 - 22
Flight Training - September 2019 - 23
Flight Training - September 2019 - 24
Flight Training - September 2019 - 25
Flight Training - September 2019 - 26
Flight Training - September 2019 - 27
Flight Training - September 2019 - 28
Flight Training - September 2019 - 29
Flight Training - September 2019 - 30
Flight Training - September 2019 - 31
Flight Training - September 2019 - 32
Flight Training - September 2019 - 33
Flight Training - September 2019 - 34
Flight Training - September 2019 - 35
Flight Training - September 2019 - 36
Flight Training - September 2019 - 37
Flight Training - September 2019 - 38
Flight Training - September 2019 - 39
Flight Training - September 2019 - 40
Flight Training - September 2019 - 41
Flight Training - September 2019 - 42
Flight Training - September 2019 - 43
Flight Training - September 2019 - 44
Flight Training - September 2019 - 45
Flight Training - September 2019 - 46
Flight Training - September 2019 - 47
Flight Training - September 2019 - 48
Flight Training - September 2019 - 49
Flight Training - September 2019 - 50
Flight Training - September 2019 - 51
Flight Training - September 2019 - 52
Flight Training - September 2019 - 53
Flight Training - September 2019 - 54
Flight Training - September 2019 - 55
Flight Training - September 2019 - 56
Flight Training - September 2019 - Cover3
Flight Training - September 2019 - Cover4
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