AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2020 - 98

P&E 

NEVER AGAIN

Run dry
Costly miscalculation in the Alaskan bush
BY STEVE ELLS

98 | AOPA PILOT July 2020

were in "Spam cans" so I flew around in
the winds of Texas until I knew how to
slip, and how to deal with crosswinds, and
how to keep the tail behind the nose on the
ground. I had logged 82.3 hours in 55 Mike
when I set out for Alaska.
The PA-12 can tank up to 38 gallons of
fuel, a huge load for an engine that uses
six gallons an hour in cruise. Although I
had installed a simple exhaust gas temperature gauge, I leaned by pulling the
mixture back until the engine got rough,
then pushing it forward until the engine
got smooth. This consistently yielded
a fuel burn of 5.8 gallons an hour. Even
with a one-hour fuel reserve, I figured I
had enough fuel for five and a half hours
of flying.

On June 1 I touched down at the
Soldotna Airport (PASX). Total flight time
en route was 50 hours; average fuel consumption, 5.8 gallons per hour. Forty-nine
days later I ran that Super Cruiser out
of gas and set it down in swampy grass
of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. I
was flying from Girdwood (AQY) back to
Soldotna.
Before I took off, I totaled up the hours
flown since my last fill up-4.6-and multiplied that by 5.8. I got approximately 26
gallons. I told myself there was enough
remaining to make the 63-mile trip.
Just after I crossed into the refuge,
the engine quit. Switching tanks didn't
help. I was at 3,500 feet, so I had time
to contact Anchorage Approach and give

ANNA MILL

IN APRIL 1983 I was working in Rockport,
Texas, when I accepted a job offer to work
as the director of maintenance for a Douglas
DC-3 operator in Soldotna, Alaska.
I had a few dollars in my pocket, and I
owned a 1947 Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser.
I had a month before work started so I
decided to load up a box of tools, some
clothes, and survival gear and fly my Super
Cruiser to Alaska.
I bought N3155M in December 1981.
It was a three-place airplane with a
stick, tailwheel, heel brakes, and no flaps.
Fabric-covered, it was powered by a
108-horsepower Lycoming O-235. A Narco
Mk 12 nav/com was it as far as avionics.
I was instrument-rated and held a
commercial pilot certificate, but my hours



AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2020

Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2020 - Intro
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2020 - Cover1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2020 - Cover2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2020 - Contents
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2020 - Cover3
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