Flying lesson No. 1: Check gas before taking off

[CuppaJoe]

Seen any good movies lately?

Sneak Peek: Hilary Swank as Amelia Earhart - ABC News

 

[Nords]

Remember the old saying: "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all".

Good point-- the irony speaks for itself!

... and you have a nice life now.

 

[Milton]

My guess you are going to find lots of others out there that don't press the fuel gauge.

Perhaps. But not in Northern Canada, where fuel can be hard to come by.

CuppaJoe, I'm looking forward to that movie. My only question is, does it feature CGI? Sure hope not.

Diane Keaton's Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight was a made-for-tv movie, but for all that I thought it was pretty good. And it had real aircraft!

Nords, what's up with all the sarcasm? First it was "but hey, thanks for stopping by...". Now you've decended to "... and you have a nice life now."

I haven't posted anything to merit these passive-aggressive attacks.

 

[peterj]

You're all wrong. Here's proof you don't need gas to take off.
YouTube - Highlander dead stick take off

 

[Rustic23]

Yes, but even this guy had enough fuel to make it home!

 

[BunsGettingFirm]

Well, if that highlander guy doesn't have enough fuel, he can always jettison the 2-ton balls he has and glide home.

 

[Milton]

That's quite the link, thanks for sharing.

I watched some of his other videos, and am quite impressed with the aircraft's performance.

 

[Brat]

John Denver didn't check his fuel level once, on his last flight.

 

[peterj]

I believe that John Denver's problem was that he couldn't switch gas tanks in that homebuilt plane because it required reaching behind your back with a pair of pliers. Of course, his alcoholism didn't help matters.

 

[REWahoo]

I believe that John Denver's problem was that he couldn't switch gas tanks in that homebuilt plane because it required reaching behind your back with a pair of pliers. Of course, his alcoholism didn't help matters.

I believe failure to refuel was one of several findings for the accident. From the NSTSB report (bold is mine):

PROBABLE CAUSE

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause of this accident was the pilot's diversion of attention from the operation of the airplane and his inadvertent application of right rudder that resulted in the loss of airplane control while attempting to manipulate the fuel selector handle. Also, the Board determines that the pilot's inadequate preflight planning and preparations, specifically his failure to refuel the airplane, was causal. The Board determines that the builder's decision to locate the unmarked fuel selector handle in a hard-to-access position, unmarked fuel quantity sight gauges, inadequate transition training by the pilot, and his lack of total experience in this type of airplane were factors in this accident.

http://www.avweb.com/other/ntsb9905.html

 

[peterj]

He also didn't have a valid medical certificate. He's definitely a case of a mentally impaired "pilot".

 

[Brat]

I had no idea that John Denver was an alcoholic, however, I am not aware that alcohol played any role in the accident. There are lots of folks out there who are abstinent alcoholics.

As a read REWahoo's quotes it appears that Denver had too much confidence in his mastery of the aircraft and failed to run a proper pre-flight check. I seem to recall that Denver's father was in the Air Force and that John was an avid pilot. (And yes, I know that John Denver is not his birth name.) It is so easy to overlook details.

 

[ziggy29]

I had no idea that John Denver was an alcoholic, however, I am not aware that alcohol played any role in the accident. There are lots of folks out there who are abstinent alcoholics.

Correct. The link REW provided explicitly indicates that Denver was negative for all substances tested, including booze (ethanol). He did have a history of alcohol problems including at least two DWI charges.

 

[peterj]

You are quite correct, he did not have alcohol in his blood at the time of his crash. He had been flying under a special issuance of his medical certificate after completing rehab which called for complete abstinence and MD visit every 3 months. His MD had reported him as not being abstinent and the FAA had sent him 2 certified letters revoking his flying priviledges. After receiving those, he bought that plane and went flying. The FAA talks about dangerous attitudes in pilots, one being anti-authority, as in the rules don't apply to me. Unfortunately, he had it in spades. Overall, just a da_n shame.

 

[check6]

"OK! Here is one! I never remember being concerned about the fuel gauge. I have over 4,000 hours flying time..."


I haven't either after 15,000+ hrs of civilian, military, and commercial flying.

 

[REWahoo]

"OK! Here is one! I never remember being concerned about the fuel gauge. I have over 4,000 hours flying time..."

I haven't either after 15,000+ hrs of civilian, military, and commercial flying.

That's probably because you usually glance at your fuel gauges at least once during pre-flight and/or prior to takeoff. Or do you simply 'kick the tires and light the fires'?

 

[ls99]

In my 14 or so years of bouncing around in the Aleutians in various small fixed wing, and helicopters UH1H, UH1M, Jet ranger, hiller (was the only one with gas engine), bulkow, hughes 500, just to name a few, I always made sure the pilot checked the fuel and filled up. I cranked the hand fuel pump many a times from 55 gal. barrels of Jet A.

Most of the the pilots were not aware that I was checking them. Of all the charters, rentals etc. I only had one young whippersnapper hot shot pilot from Hawaii who I found way too casual of a flyboy. One trip, and he was canned by me, and I told him to get his butt back to his island before he becomes a rescue subject along with his his fare/charter. Oh, I did have a short conversation with his company's chief pilot.

Only once did we get low on fuel,that was in a Hughes 500. The result of a navigation error by the pilot, relying on a magnetic compass. We were 30 miles off course. Fortunately I recognized the island we arrived at (not the intended one) after breaking out of the fog, flying 30' altitude over open ocean. The pilot and I were grateful that we filled the tank to the top, for what was to be a short VFR trip. We ended up getting back to base LZ 30 min. past VFR. With the fuel gauge bouncing on empty and engine shutting off 40 sec. after landing, out of fuel.

All along the final ride I was mindful that a helicopter even on floats assumes stable position #2 in a very rapid fashion, even if the water landing is successful. Which is unlikely in anything less than mirror smooth seas.

Got an attaboy from the pilot for superb navigating back home. The conversation over the intercom went something along the line of:
Me: man we are low on fuel, sure we can make it back?
Pilot: I'm lost, you do the navigating, I'll worry about the fuel.
Me: OK. heading 275 magnetic to Sadler's mistake (another long story). then 295 to LZ. distance about 40 Nautical Miles.
Pilot: Hmm Ok. I'll optimize fuel flow versus speed, and remain flying.

I guess if a pilot relies on the ground crew and normally carries several hours of extra fuel, (s)he can get a bit casual.

Wonder how they pass their check rides. Anyone read Deakin's discussions on AvWeb?

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Looks like the Blue Angel's Fat Albert. Until it came apart at the seams. Hope the boys got out.

DAMN! When you mix Americans and airplanes (and a little bit of money), you sure get some wild stuff!

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

I don't care how they got into the situation. The guys who flew the Gimli Glider were aces in my book. That is REAL flying.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

A good glide ratio is good life insurance.

 

[Milton]

That's probably because you usually glance at your fuel gauges at least once during pre-flight and/or prior to takeoff.

And use a dipstick. Fuel gauges are certainly better than nothing, but can fail ... even the float-type sight gauges sometimes become stuck.

 

[Rustic23]

Speaking of stuck fuel gauges, the F-111's fuel gauge had two pointers, one for the forward tank and one for the aft. What few, if any pilots knew, it was micro-switches within the gauge that kept the two tanks in proper balance. It stuck on one fatal day, the crew did not realize the serious situation, the aft tank was way too full and the forward tank not so. When the crew got to the landing phase and swept the wings forward, it greatly changed the cg of the aircraft, pitched the nose uncontrollable up, stalled, crew punched out, a $17 million lesson! After that, the fuel gauge got a lot more respect!

 

[Lazarus]

If a new pilot did not check the fuel, he did not do a pre-flight checkout. I am not a pilot so maybe I'm being stupid, but to me any pilot (new or not) who forgets this should not be allowed to fly ever again in his life. In the case of a student and instructor, the instructor should be the one to lose his license because he is responsible.

This is doing a favor for the pilot and might save his life in the future.

If I was the mother of that 16-year-old student, I would sue the instructor for endangering my son and scaring me to death! Neither may be against the law but I would do it anyway, and anything else I could think of to be a PITA.

Should everyone that makes a mistake driving lose their license and never be allowed to drive again? If not why not? Why is flying different than driving if it is to you?