AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2020 - 101

of landing, fueling, and then taking off for a
7-minute flight to our destination. It didn't
seem like things were quite that dire, so I
soldiered on, although I kept a beady eye on
BVU as it passed by on our left.
Almost there. I checked in with
Henderson Tower and got my instruction to
enter a long left base for 17 Right. Coming
up to the turn from base to final, we were
still uncomfortably distant from the numbers. I had not informed tower of our fuel
situation, which still did not seem to qualify
as an emergency. As I entered the bank for
final, the Lycoming coughed and sputtered,
a sound I had never heard in any plane while
airborne-and hope to never hear again. The
engine stuttered through the turn, then as I
leveled out for final it came back to life. A
minute later we were squeaking the tires
onto pavement and taxiing for the FBO and a
long drink of 100LL. August and I exchanged
relieved looks and I admitted that I had obviously cut it too close.
When we finally refueled, the airplane
took on nearly 70 gallons to our usual fill
level. Lessons learned: 1. Bottom of the necks
is less than 75 gallons of usable-dipsticks are
sketchy. 2. Top off for a long flight. I could
have put another 45 minutes' worth in those
tanks when we departed, with no worries
about weight. 3. Headwinds and off-course
diversions can add up to more fuel use than
you think. 4. Banking the airplane can starve
the engine when things are getting bony. 5.
Better to spend an extra half-hour for a fuel
stop than run dry, even if it's spitting distance
from your final destination. 6. Apply caution
in inverse proportion to the accuracy of your
fuel measurement devices.
Ten years and 300 flying hours later, I
applied these lessons on a routine flight from
Los Angeles to San Luis Obispo, our new
home, in a Mooney M20K, our new ride. This
time it was high fuel prices in Burbank and a
25-knot headwind that had me running low.
Cruising along at 6,500 feet, I did not desire
an intermediate stop, especially with gusty
crosswinds at Santa Ynez below me. But that
little voice told me to cut the power, put it
down, and fill it up, which is what I did. So
should you.
AOPA
DAVE HOUGHTON is an instrument-rated com-

mercial pilot living in California.

aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 101

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - January 2020

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