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Guy Buchanan

Joined: 16 Jul 2006 Posts: 1204 Location: Ramona, CA
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Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 7:44 am Post subject: How much fuel do YOU carry? |
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At 09:57 AM 10/21/2009, you wrote:
Quote: | All I'm suggesting is that for local trips around the patch, flying
to the local $100 'burger joint, or just flying for an hour in the
evening, it is not necessary...for me...to fly with FULL tanks every
time I take off, IF you have two 13-gallon tanks. You have to do the
math, and see if you NEED to lug all that fuel with you.
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Lynn,
Fuel quantity is relative. I could, I suppose, put a 33
gallon fuel tank in the right seat, as well as my 26 gallons of wing
tank fuel, for every launch that I don't carry a passenger. That way
I'd be sure of getting where I was going, with lots of options.
However, here in SoCal one hour of extra fuel (5 gallons) will
generally find you a VMC airport with fuel so I really don't
understand the requirement to carry more. I've flown in places where
that wasn't true, and there I carry more fuel. The bottom line is
that flying is a thinking game, with Draconian punishments for the
thoughtless, and the only thing that will keep you 100% safe is to
stay on the ground.
Guy Buchanan
San Diego, CA
K-IV 1200 / 582-C / Warp / 400 hrs. and counting
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_________________ Guy Buchanan
Deceased K-IV 1200
A glider pilot too. |
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Lynn Matteson
Joined: 10 Jan 2006 Posts: 2778 Location: Grass Lake, Michigan
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Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 9:08 am Post subject: How much fuel do YOU carry? |
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Exactly my point, Guy. Enough fuel for the mission whether it be
crossing the Atlantic, or hopping from Yucca Valley to Twentynine
Palms. Around here, with the flatness of the land, and airports
abundant, there is not the burning need to keep the tanks at maximum
full. Maybe an axiom could be drawn from this....the fuller the tank,
the shallower the thinking need be. Or, "the emptier the tank, the
fuller the brain must be"
And speaking of abundant airports, there are something like 200
charted airports in Michigan, and over 500 that are not charted, or
private. I bought a list of the uncharted ones, but in an emergency,
there usually isn't time to figure where you are, consult the list,
pick out one and land there. When I had my little problem the other
day, I got lucky to see one of these uncharted fields and land there.
The point is, if there are that many airfields, one is usually
nearby.....not a reason to run out of fuel just to test one's luck,
but comforting nonetheless.
I got lucky the other day and cheated Draco out of a good
thrashing....so I polished up my thinking cap, and will do my best to
"keep on thinking free." (Moody Blues) : )
Lynn Matteson
Kitfox IV Speedster, taildragger
Jabiru 2200, #2062, 801.4 hrs
Countdown to 1000 hrs--199 to go
Sensenich 62"x46" Wood prop
Electroair direct-fire ignition system
Rotec TBI-40 injection
Status: flying (and learning)
On Oct 22, 2009, at 11:33 AM, Guy Buchanan wrote:
Quote: |
At 09:57 AM 10/21/2009, you wrote:
> All I'm suggesting is that for local trips around the patch, flying
> to the local $100 'burger joint, or just flying for an hour in the
> evening, it is not necessary...for me...to fly with FULL tanks every
> time I take off, IF you have two 13-gallon tanks. You have to do the
> math, and see if you NEED to lug all that fuel with you.
Lynn,
Fuel quantity is relative. I could, I suppose, put a 33
gallon fuel tank in the right seat, as well as my 26 gallons of
wing tank fuel, for every launch that I don't carry a passenger.
That way I'd be sure of getting where I was going, with lots of
options. However, here in SoCal one hour of extra fuel (5 gallons)
will generally find you a VMC airport with fuel so I really don't
understand the requirement to carry more. I've flown in places
where that wasn't true, and there I carry more fuel. The bottom
line is that flying is a thinking game, with Draconian punishments
for the thoughtless, and the only thing that will keep you 100%
safe is to stay on the ground.
Guy Buchanan
San Diego, CA
K-IV 1200 / 582-C / Warp / 400 hrs. and counting
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_________________ Lynn
Kitfox IV-Jabiru 2200
N369LM |
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akflyer

Joined: 07 May 2007 Posts: 574 Location: Soldotna AK
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Posted: Thu Oct 22, 2009 10:27 am Post subject: Re: How much fuel do YOU carry? |
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enough to carry out the planned flight, with about an hour reserve Not very often I take off with more than 15 gallons on board for a normal flight. I have topped the tanks off a few times and she gets kinda piggy with a passenger and full tanks.
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_________________ DO NOT ARCHIVE
Leonard Perry aka SNAKE
Soldotna AK
Avid "C" / Mk IV
582 (147 hrs and counting on the rebuild)
IVO IFA
Full Lotus 1450
#1 snake oil salesman since 1-22-2009
I would rather die trying to live, than to live trying not to die.... |
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Float Flyr

Joined: 19 Jul 2006 Posts: 2704 Location: Campbellton, Newfoundland
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Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2009 1:34 pm Post subject: How much fuel do YOU carry? |
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Maybe you should have said get in the ground!
Noel
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_________________ Noel Loveys
Kitfox III-A
Aerocet 1100 Floats |
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