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- Jan 6, 2019
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I have a ‘65 PA28-140 with the stock fuel gauges. I don’t have any other measurements of fuel flow or fuel quantity. I want to put in better engine and fuel monitoring, but that will need to wait for a little while due to budget constraints. ... So I have a question for those of you similarly equipped. What strategies do you use to safely manage fuel on a long cross-country?
If my normal fuel burn is the book 8.4 gallons per hour and my extended range tanks are full to the brim, then I can easily calculate the maximum hours of flight and subtract the amount of time necessary to maintain fuel reserves. But I don’t really trust that number. If I run a little too rich or with a little too much power, my hourly fuel consumption could go up. Even an increase to 10 gallons per hour can change range significantly.
As an example, I’ve talked to a couple of pilots who took off on one tank, set up their cruise, and ran on that tank for about 30 minutes. Then they switched to the other tank and ran it to empty. When the engine started sputtering, they switched back and calculated their fuel burn per hour and their remaining flight time. The idea of running a tank to empty bothers me so I haven’t done it, but neither do I like the idea of limiting my flight time to 3-hour legs just in case my hourly fuel burn is higher than intended. (Some of you may point out that bladder endurance is what limits flight to 3-hour legs, but let’s assume for this discussion that bladder capacity is not the limitation.)
So, again, what strategies do you use?
If my normal fuel burn is the book 8.4 gallons per hour and my extended range tanks are full to the brim, then I can easily calculate the maximum hours of flight and subtract the amount of time necessary to maintain fuel reserves. But I don’t really trust that number. If I run a little too rich or with a little too much power, my hourly fuel consumption could go up. Even an increase to 10 gallons per hour can change range significantly.
As an example, I’ve talked to a couple of pilots who took off on one tank, set up their cruise, and ran on that tank for about 30 minutes. Then they switched to the other tank and ran it to empty. When the engine started sputtering, they switched back and calculated their fuel burn per hour and their remaining flight time. The idea of running a tank to empty bothers me so I haven’t done it, but neither do I like the idea of limiting my flight time to 3-hour legs just in case my hourly fuel burn is higher than intended. (Some of you may point out that bladder endurance is what limits flight to 3-hour legs, but let’s assume for this discussion that bladder capacity is not the limitation.)
So, again, what strategies do you use?
