Fuel gauge trouble?

[MrCoffee]

I have been enjoying the Cardinal all day today with a nice long flight from Hurricane Utah to Emma field with real weather. After fighting major headwinds most of the way I took note of the fuel gauge over Salem and decided to set down for a splash and dash before heading on to Emma. Lined up on the ILS runway 31 the engine died and I had to make a not so good emergency landing at a nearby grass strip. Exciting turn of events to be sure but this may be an issue you want to take note of. According to the gauges I have about 1/8th in both 2d and vc panels when they are bone dry.

http://home.austin.rr.com/speedzone/gasg.jpg

[ladamson]

LAST EDITED ON Aug-31-02 AT 07:22PM (EDT)[p]First rule of real plane flight..........

Never trust the fuel guages and be "scared" to death when their even close to empty! On an aircraft with floats to measure fuel, the fuel can be sloshing around, the attitude of the aircraft may not be level for accurate readings, and there can always be a few un-usuable gallons that remain in the tanks.

P.S. --- a girlfriend of my daughter actually had a "Cardinal" land behind her compact pickup on the freeway during rush hour. The plane had run out of fuel and found some spacing between cars. Upon seeing the nose of the aircraft rushing up in her rearview mirror, she promply hit the brakes! :) This is a true story!! The plane only suffered nosewheel, prop, and minor cowl damage.

Ladamson

[MrCoffee]

A true aviation fan, not one mention of the girl or her truck but the aircraft was only slightly damaged. :-lol

I can see your point about the fuel gauges, I guess I’ll have to make my hops a little shorter and wait for the POH for the useable fuel quantity.

[Nick_Jacobs]

To toggle a digital fuel reading, you can mouse click over the fuel gauges. You can also refer to the GPS FOB (fuel on board) digital readout on the Fuel Plan page.

Regards
Nick Jacobs
Dreamfleet