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An old rule of thumb that would go very well here is to keep your eye open the header tank fuel gauge. If it starts to go down, you need to be assessing your remaining flight. ----- Original Message ----- From: "William R. Bayne" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "COUPERS-FLYIN" <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, November 28, 2004 10:32 PM Subject: Re: [COUPERS-FLYIN] fuel > ----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]---- > > > > Hi Cyrus, > > I earlier replied to you directly, not the list. Here's ALL of what I > said (for the others). > > In the "old days", Erco recommended 10% fuel as a reserve. The first > Ercoupes had only a header tank and one wing tank, total 14 gallons. > 1.4 gallons flying conservatively with the 65hp gave one about 35 miles > to set down when things didn't work out as planned. There were a lot > fewer airfields in those days, but pilots were much more familiar with > how to land off-airport without damage. They had to be. > > Are we as good as they were? Probably not, which is one of my > recurring points. We should be. > > Today, a half-hour is considered minimum "reserve" (2-1/2-3 gallons) > and 45 minutes more conservative. Adopting either figure as your "no > matter what" retains identical discipline and wisdom. If you are > reasonably proficient and truly aware of your burn rate and progress > aloft, either is equally prudent. > > On the other hand, no sane person would want to contemplate putting a > Duke down in a pasture. Apples and oranges! > > Regards, > > William R. Bayne > <____|-(o)-|____> > (Copyright 2004) > > P.S. > > On your latest example: The totalizer is like any computer. Garbage > in, garbage out. As Ronald Regan said, "trust, but verify"! > > When I spoke of being "...truly aware of your burn rate and progress > aloft..." I referred to calibrating each Ercoupe to the "real world" > (per my TECH emails of 10/02/04 2:11am and 6:44pm) so one may remain > aware of the truth from progressive review of available REAL > information. > > -- > > On Nov 28, 2004, at 8:32 PM, Dr. Cyrus Wood-Thomas wrote: > > > An old Duke pilot once said to me that he never cut into his last 60 > > minutes of fuel no matter what. If he were 15 minutes from home he > > would stop for fuel rather than ending up with only 45 minutes left. > > I now understand the wisdom of this discipline which appears silly at > > first. Sooner or later you'll take 20 minutes, then 30, then > > silence. So much for utility at that point. Cyrus > > On Nov 28, 2004, at 9:44 PM, Dr. Cyrus Wood-Thomas wrote: > > > William R. Bayne said: Today, a half-hour is considered minimum > > "reserve" > > (2-1/2-3 gallons) and 45 minutes more conservative. Adopting either > > figure as your "no matter what" retains identical discipline and > > wisdom. > > If you are reasonably proficient and truly aware of your burn > > rate and progress aloft, either is equally prudent. > > > > Cyrus says: BUT, S___T happens. I was flying a Lake and put 20 > > gallons in at Gallup NM. I didn't watch the young man who did the > > fueling because it was raining and I wanted some coffee and a dougnut > > and the men's room! I heard him call in "20 gallons" to the desk > > clerk and paid my bill. Got in the plane quickly in the rain, added > > 20 gallons to my fuel totalizer and took off. On final for Cal Black > > up at Bull Frog with 6.8 gallons showing on the totalizer we ran out > > of gas and ruined the aircraft. did the the fellow fueling the > > plane put 5 gallons in his truck? Cyrus > > ps. now I use a dip stick and not a totalizer. > > ========================================================================== == == > To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm > Search the archives on http://escribe.com/aviation/coupers/ > > > > ========================================================================== ==== To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm Search the archives on http://escribe.com/aviation/coupers/
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