Fuel Management Made Easy

[@ryancabell6733]

The production quality of these videos just keep getting better and better! Thanks so much for making these, I look forward to seeing more.

[@katana5562]

Ryan Cabell Yeah I was thinking I’m watching an ad for the first minute 😂

[@houstonfirefox]

Stick those tanks! Visually inspect your fuel load during preflight! Had a friend who landed with half tanks the previous day so he figured he was good to go THIS day. I insisted he stick the tanks (his aircraft). Yep, right wing was completely dry due to a contaminated drain valve that dripped all of the fuel out of that wing overnight while tied down (found this during refueling, managed to re-seat the valve). Never assume anything when it comes to fuel load.

[@michaelmartin5453]

Wow. I’m glad you were there to check. Good example.

[@brittany16950]

Have had this happen to me too.

[@danielelliott3659]

Absolutely correct!

[@Smroot2000]

Big pearl for me was that when checking for water in the fuel consider that it's all water. Make sure to drain a good amount and check color.

[@DAN007thefoxx1]

If it still stinks when you sump it, its probably free of water.

[@TheAirplaneDriver]

For my airplane, I log all fuel added with the hours noted when the fuel was added. Before flying, I check the tach and knowing how much my plane burns per hour, I know exactly how much fuel is left in the tanks and how many hours of flying I have. Simple. When flying airplanes that others may have used, like a rental, I won’t fly unless I can visually confirm the load out...either topped off or filled to the indicator tabs that many planes have. Fuel load divided by burn rate tells me how many hours I can fly. Either method, always subtract one hour minimum from the calculated time available. Every time I get in the plane with a student I expect them to tell me how many hours we can fly before landing for fuel with a one hour reserve. I burn that methodology in their brain so it becomes second nature.

[@danielelliott3659]

Excellent comment

[@mikethebeginner]

When I was 10, my uncle let me take the controls of his Cessna push-pull (Skymaster) for a few minutes. His goal was to give me a taste of the pleasure and excitement of flying. What I took from the experience instead was an instant conviction: _this is something I do not want to do._ I don't have the personality to be a pilot. As I grew up, I learned that I don't deal with pressure well, I'm easily distracted, I'm not detail oriented, and I'm absent-minded--I can go for extended periods with my "head in the clouds," no _double-entendre_ intended. Curiously, I *DO* respond well in a crisis, "keeping my head when all about me are losing theirs." Apparently danger makes me focus, and I'm good when I'm focused. However, that's not enough to make me think I'd be a good pilot. I'm glad there are pilots...so those of us who have no aptitude for it don't have to be one.

[@mjordan812]

The only time you can have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

[@smokingspitfire1197]

Or too heavy?

[@Island_Line_Rail_Productions]

Or your a KLM 747 taking off without clearance in heavy fog and suddenly have o try and climb over a Pan Am 747 that is lost on the runway

[@Straswa]

@@Island_Line_Rail_Productions The Tenerife disaster, rip to the victims and condolences to their families.

[@CapFreddy]

Nice video. I am not proud to say that i almost got in real trouble due to a bunch of errors pointed here (head wind stronger than predicted, lots of cumulus nimbus and shower rain made me zig zag, first of January holidays with a close to sunset estimate that wouldn’t allow me to land and get to my destination made me get a get-there-itis). After that I wrote down all the points that led me to that corner, it was a route I constantly did, 300nm in a 3h flight. I set a maximum ete of 4h with a 4h45min endurance, a GS of no less than 70kt, and various fuel checkpoints around the route and count a fuel stop time in my sunset calculations. On the next week I got in a similar situation on the same route, but did a fuel stop 1h15min prior to my destination with a 1h45min of endurance. It took less than 30min to land, refuel and take off again.

[@unclejacksimulations9423]

This video is a masterpiece. You just upped the standards! Congratulations, and thanks for the exquisite info!

[@Backyardmech1]

11:38 is the reason I saw the remains of a plane that had crashed a mile short of the runway. Engine quit when they ran one tank dry and didn’t completely switch over to a full tank. Both pilot and passenger made it, but both had broken legs. It was crazy to see bloody hand prints and drag marks on the wing where they crawled out.

[@prorobo]

Excellent production value and invaluable information. The number of NTSB reports of incidents due to fuel starvation is shocking.

[@benjamintaub9293]

Geez, how did you manage to make a topic like fuel management entertaining? Great video!

[@OAleathaO]

Even if you rent your aircraft, as I do, always make these preflight checks. I always do my own preflight checks as I figure it is their aircraft but my life. I was in the process of doing these one time and the renter came by and said, "Don't bother sweetie, I already checked everything for you." Well, obviously he never checked how much fuel the aircraft had after the last rental as I always specify a full tank when I rent and I found 1/4 of a tank. He had checked the fuel gauge, it said full but it turns out the gauge was faulty.

[@JP-vs1ys]

I'd ding him at "sweetie". He sounds like a chauvanist. I don't know how to spell it, but I know it when I see it. Happy Flying.

[@deweywatts8456]

Good looking Buick. I consider myself of average intelligence, read well, and follow directions reasonably. However, after watching many many aircraft videos, I am certain it would be a good challenge to be a good pilot, and am thankful most commercial pilots take it serious. I have so many bad ground habits, and assume I can limp something home or tow it if it quits. There is no room for an idiot( like me) in the sky. Thanks guys for learning this stuff right!

[@GeorgeSemel]

Fuel gauges are only accurate under two conditions. Full and empty. That being said, learn what your airplane actually burns per hour, then make sure you are on the ground for fuel with at least 1 hour of fuel left in the tank. Check fuel before a flight, and by all means be present when the aircraft is being fueled. This is just good preflight procedures. Keep good records, and in route, if things are not going to plan, stronger than forecasted headwinds, make a mid-route fuel stop. I do that all the time. As for the money, well flying is not cheap, and well if you don't have money for fuel when you need it, maybe you can't afford to do the flying you are doing. I know the Bell 206B3 that I fly burns on average 24 to 26 gallons an hour. I flightplan 30 gph, with 95 gallons, 90 usable, I know I have 3 hours or 180 minutes total, with a 30 min reserve that drops down to 150 min or 2 hours and 30 min. Less depending on what I am actually doing at the time, unless you get some damage inflight and start losing fuel, Fuel starvation accidents are 100% preventable. To fill up a bell 206 when empty is about 400 to 450 dollars. My employer just gives me a card for the fuel, I also keep my own card just for such a purpose. Wrecking an aircraft due to fuel starvation is a lot more money than putting 400 dollars on a personal card and collecting latter. And yeah I have been stuck with the bill from time to time, but I never had an accident either, so in the long run, it's cheap personal insurance.

[@geraldunruh5754]

I have always looked and wished for a well built pilots wristwatch that would set off a vibration warning at 30, 45, or 60 minute intervals. In that way you would be sure to switch tanks and not miss an alert on the panel or hand held, etc. I have seen them with audible alarms but does little to help in a noisy cockpit while wearing a headset.

[@Nicholas-f5]

phone

[@christianjforbes]

Kitchen Timer ... Sportys offers one with a blinky light

[@markmossinghoff8185]

Investigator : why didn't you land at that airport back there? Pilot : simple, I didn't have a credit card! Living proof that you don't need brains to be a pilot.

[@buckstarchaser2376]

I heard that the only requirements for flight are airspeed and money, but I guess credit will do.

[@DAN007thefoxx1]

I bring my debit card every time I EVER go out. Or at the very least have a little hard cash along with my driver's license and other stuff. You know, the things you ALWAYS need to drive with.

[@jaysmith1408]

Note the name on the card, Out O. Gas

[@davidconsbruck7939]

This is the one accident waiting to happen that is by far the easiest to prevent. Good job on the video!

[@peterhessedal8539]

I fly 3-4 days per week on a pipeline patrol job. I think there is only one time that I have landed with less than an hour of gas in the tanks. I think that part of it is that the electronic fuel totalizer always records that I am burning more than i actually am. And even though I "Know" that I have more than it is telling me, I can't ignore it. Also when I am doing my long deadhead home, I always land at the halfway mark (unless I have one heck of a tailwind). That keeps me from the temptation of trying to stretch it for the last 30minutes.

[@Straswa]

Great vid ASI, I found this most informative, even as a non-pilot.

[@abyssalreclass]

Not a pilot yet, but I never let my car get below a quarter tank (bad for the fuel pump). Am I on the right track?

[@salvatoreshiggerino6810]

Reminds me, when I was getting my PPL I had to rescue no less than two CFIs in one car out of fuel on the highway.

[@gazzas123]

My cfi said the only time you have too much fuel is if you are on fire. We always checked the fuel level with a dip stick into the tanks. Even if it was a short flight.

[@garyalgier4811]

I grew up in Van Nuys airport and I can't tell you how many times planes flying from Phoenix to Van Nuys airport ran out of fuel a few miles short because of head winds unforeseen

[@romandotbsbd]

Good video, but missed an elephant in the room. The biggest factor in fuel miss-management is USEFUL LOAD which for many private planes looks like a “useless load”. Pilot has to balance “…an extra luggage, or an extra passenger or more fuel”. The video suggests (at 4:30) “… fill it to the top, unless you absolutely restricted by weight of passengers and cargo”. Unless you’re flying alone, you’re ALWAYS restricted by weight of passengers and cargo. If all those 4 seats are occupied (even with middle-weight people and minimal luggage) how much weight is left for a fuel? Just enough for case study on fuel miss-management. And the second big problem is notoriously inaccurate fuel gauges. Why in the 21st century manufacturers can’t produce planes with accurate fuel gauges (and USEFUL load instead of useless load) - beats me.

[@DonMatek]

It's always worth watching till the end with you :)

[@SangahNoona]

Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!

[@filakyle3663]

I love the way you make this videos so funny, please keep doing it. It so cool to learn with you

[@HappyBacon777ttv]

Have my PPL and going for my instrument, currently I never takeoff for a cross country trip without topping off all the tanks.

[@jman036]

Fantastic video and very easy to comprehend!

[@Karrpilot]

I fly a Cessna 182 RG with extended range 80 gallon fuel tanks. I use the bladder method of flying. 3 hours in the air, and I am on the ground going to the bathroom and refueling the airplane at the same time. No way am I ever going to use up 80 gallons in 3 hours.

[@gigupp]

Same here

[@_multiverse_]

With a headwind, forgetting the gear and mixture full rich you just might

[@operationscomputer1478]

mechanical failure? leakage? undetected fuel theft?

[@calvinnickel9995]

@ Sam. Endurance doesn’t change with gear and headwind... lol.

[@Michaelc136]

id keep a parachute on if I had a friend like that

[@austinformedude]

Na Bro. He is a Cirrus driver. No biggie. Just pull the red handle. :)

[@i1alder]

*Mooney. No chute :)

[@gbigsangle3044]

You prolly don't know that Cirrus has five levels of fuel management, none include pulling a chute due to fuel exhaustion. Running out of fuel in a Cirrus would require real effort.

[@maxbootstrap7397]

Not me! I'd jump right out of the airplane and never get into an airplane with him again.

[@maxbootstrap7397]

I don't know whether those guys at the beginning are actors or not, but they were great.

[@FINSuojeluskunta]

I have installed many fuel floats and a few STC kits for digital senders. 172s are just notorious for having some issue or another, and sometimes nothing seems to fix it besides an STC.

[@KingKo0]

Are you Finnish? My moms maiden name is Peura and we’re fins

[@edsupinski7039]

I wonder how many fuel starvation accidents there will be when they start the switch to hybrid and electric planes. The learning curve will have to be steep. I believe the temperature and pressure changes planes go through will wreak havoc on batteries way more than on Avgas and kerosene systems.

[@Polypeckerhead]

This is a great video, lots of personality

[@brittany16950]

This video was very entertaining. Thank you AOPA!

[@benthurber5363]

This is why I want a bearhawk with a turbo-normalized engine like a UL 520T. Unless extreme density altitude, the answer is always "fill the tanks."

[@corzahazard444]

Never forget to double check!

[@lucamuller6729]

Well done!

[@LucianoPossani]

I want to contribute with "brazilian" Portuguese subtitles. How may I do this?

[@AirSafetyInstitute]

Hi thank you for your interest in sharing our videos with more people! Subtitles are activated by clicking the "CC" button in the lower right corner of the video. To change the language, click on the gear icon next to the "CC" button, then click the arrow on the right and select "Auto-translate". There you should see a list of languages to select from.

[@MithridatesOfficial]

Really got a lot from this video.. Thank you.

[@Raison_d-etre]

How was that CFI without a credit card disciplined?

[@sgtkeebler]

Are these pilot training videos that they watch, like when you watch that red asphalt movie in driving school?

[@bshorta]

Wow, great content and production!

[@Whitezide_]

Keep these coming!

[@siratthebox]

[using pen on a map] dude

[@isaaccool3183]

I use pencil crayon

[@182driver]

What a great video.... makes 100% sense...

[@jibeneyto91]

I must admit that driving a car I'm like the dude on the beginning. Once I hit reserve I reset the odometer and drive for another 30 miles. On the plane it's a different story. I use a countdown from the moment I start the engine. The time is based on usable fuel on board and a conservative fuel burn figure of 8 gal/h for a C172.

[@thefireman285]

You will eventually have fuel pump failure and or injector contamination problems in your car, should try to use 1/4 tank or higher as refuel mark as much as practical. Often times fuel pumps are located in the tank of automobiles and use the gas to help cool them. Running low fuel can cause more heat and stress on the pump. Sediment and contaminants are more concentrated in low fuel environments, therefore a potential for increased occurrences of problems to fuel injectors/carburetors, filters, lines etc.

[@billbrisson9927]

a wise man once told me: the only time there's too much fuel onboard is when you're on fire!

[@wicked1172]

Nice old car, I think it is a 60's Buick Wildcat or maybe a Riv.

[@Heithapotha3]

I want a book writing more ditels about aircraft pliz tell me

[@g.c.1956]

Nice Riviera!

[@robertreser7137]

When boxing the controls, visually look to see they actually move correctly and verbally state..."Left turn, Left aileron full up, Right turn, Right aileron full up, Control wheel full aft, elevator full up."

[@skajake]

Always a special day to get new video. Thanks so much

[@TimothyChapman]

How does water get into a fuel cell?

[@ronjohnson303]

Timothy Chapman. Condensation

[@Bartonovich52]

Leaky fuel caps.

[@thefireman285]

Back in the late 80's at my small airport some thieves were stealing fuel from aircraft and replacing it with water!!!! Later the police found out they wanted the high octane fuel for their drag cars. Luckily all the aircraft on the flight line were checked after 2 planes were discovered with high concentration of water/fuel and all the props flagged for the owners to not trust the fuel. Could have been absolutely horrible. The thieves swore they did not know it would cause an egine failure. They had to pay restitution and only 30 days in jail because the $ value back then did not exceed felony levels.

[@eddiec1841]

Buen video, enseña muy bien. Thanks for this great video.

[@raycollishaw673]

but what car is that?

[@fishhisy]

E for enough?

[@nunayoorbidnez2119]

E for expired....

[@flyingcountryboy]

3 things you can't get back in aviation. The attitude above ya, the runway behind ya, and the fuel you didn't put in the plane back at the airport!!

[@annagolebiowska865]

‘Pulls out map’: nah imma use my map

[@call911forcookies2]

Wow this video is so informative and funny! really enjoyed and learned

[@jeffpelton3211]

With 50 years of experience, driving or flying, 1/4 tanks is my fill up point before I go anywhere.. If I can't trust the fuel gauge, I'll run as far as I can, knowing the fuel flow I can expect. Never less then 1/4 tank level. Saving $$$ pushing to get a lower fuel price is stupid.

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

Okay, I know this is an older vid'... AND I hope there's going to be an update/rebuild... BUT I gotta say this. Folks, look through the checklists and the step-by-step you went through just to be able to land AT THE AIRPORT... That's the very place and conditions for which your plane (ANY plane) was designed to land... LOOK at how complicated it gets and how many techniques YOU HAVE TO USE to safely put that thing on the ground "the way it's supposed to work". Now, consider this. In my car, or on my motorcycle, when I run out of gas, I can pull over about anywhere safely. There's ALWAYS a soft shoulder nearby. Even on the rare occasion I can't reach such, it's reasonably safe enough to stay my ass in the car until help arrives, right there. It's rarely particularly unsafe to do so. Where the F*** are you going to "coast to a shoulder" in your plane??? NOT the ground. It's friggin' DANGEROUS to try to coast down and go all cavalier or "cowboy" about putting a plane on the ground. There's advanced EXTRA training to put planes on the ground in "off runway landings", EVEN when the planes are designed AND equipped to do so. Your average Cessna is NOT so designed NOR equipped. Smart money says, YOUR plane isn't either. The REALITY is that there is no such shoulder up there. There are no mystical floating platforms for you to reach and wait for gas, or get a fill-up. The Military might have in-flight fueling, but that's a damnably tricky, dangerous, and nefariously precision oriented maneuver, and we are ONLY General Aviators with dinky little planes that are barely more than a flying VW bug . With all the safety devices they DO have, it's not worth gambling your life OR the lives of passengers on the random place you have to BE "the cowboy" who can put the plane down in one piece. It's just that simple. Before there's a question of whether you'll "probably get there", you NEED to have a stop-over for fuel. For us GENERAL AVIATOR TYPES, there simply is NO SUCH THING as an emergency or business that's worth dying for. There are precious few worth risking the plane for. The Emergency and Commercial Pilots have their companies and agencies to dictate the fuel stops and ranges and acceptable limits. They sign contracts to take the risks they take (if any)... BUT WE never get medals for making a winter run through horrific weather to deliver anything. We don't get a pay raise or bonus for cutting the costs of reserve fuel over a medium or long haul. We ARE NOT in the business of flying. We ARE IN THE HOBBY of flying! Remember that. ;o)

[@jimryan2212]

Can we get WINGS credit?

[@YourFriendlyGApilot]

This is the ASI version of a Seinfeld episode! Awesome :)

[@joshupmeyer7318]

Alright so you have a finite amount of fuel don’t use exactly how much you have because you could run out in the sky

[@Day1Fitness]

I love this video

[@awittypilot8961]

Cardinal sin...trusting your fuel gauges.......Figure out what your fuel burn when fully rich and use THAT as your base number...NOT the leaned burn. Then ALWAYS use timing and not gauges to maintain a decent mount of reserve. There is no way to blame anyone but the pilot for fuel exhaustion. And yes it has happened to me. Learn from OTHERS mistakes and don't let it happen to you. I would bet the one thing not mentioned in this video is taking off overweight. I've seen it many times in my career. Fuel is the only way to adjust weight if you HAVE to take a certain weight of pax or cargo. But always remember it's better to plan than take chances. You can't pull over and call AAA. Barring mechanical problems you should never have to worry about running out of fuel if you plan properly.

[@davidwhite8633]

AWitty PIlot Those poor ol’ fuel gauges don’t get no respect, but they do have one invaluable use. If they are going down faster than my clock due to siphoning or whatever, especially in high wings, I’ll be on the ground soon-ist to find out why. Better safe than sorry.

[@lusilk7954]

top marks

[@echialvo]

Excelent!!!!!

[@cdurkinz]

Lol who are the 6 people who downvote this? I just.... I don't understand who thinks this is bad information?

[@masausophiri8450]

those that the system affects negatively .. those that siphon gas to resell

[@cdtaylor7732]

And this is why I take off with full tanks every time. Even the local ones. I’ve made people leave bags and other things like that to keep light enough for take off minimums.

[@chrish2685]

The poor Rail and Road infra-structure of America,combined with it's vast size and the obsession for coastal city planning,has led to a lazy dependence on aircraft,be it commercial or light private.Hence the world's leading country of Aircraft crashes and fatalities. Take note of the next world Superpower country,China! They have built more motorway/railtrack in 1 year than America in 200 years,realising the importance of transport infra-structure !

[@ikay2102]

good points

[@k.kristianjonsson4814]

Funny detail. The car tell us that the footage is made in the seventies, but the aircraft's looks the same as many of them used today

[@pilotavery]

Kristian Jonsson Yep, most planes used today were from. The 70's.

[@greathornedowl3644]

Former refueler at MSP, as I remember rule was requested (which I think most airline software allowed for an extra hour) + 10%. Love the Buick Riviera at the beginning (free giveaway to subscribers?)

[@Soandnb]

I have no idea why I'm watching these. Never touched a plane before.

[@alansmyth2204]

Soandnb me neither

[@megadavis5377]

There is no "range." There is only "endurance. "

[@salvatoreshiggerino6810]

That looks like some tasty refreshing 100LL!

[@TheItrucker]

Fill'er up!

[@timmurphy7387]

In this video we are reminded that being a pilot does not compensate for being stupid. Good training builds good habits and I have to wonder why this is as big an issues as it seems to be?

[@joblessalex]

Fill it all the way. Waste a bit, save lives.

[@ronjohnson9507]

Never trust fuel gauges, always stick the tanks!!!!

[@johnnyllooddte3415]

thats easy.. when your engine starts sputtering..time to look for a place to land

[@joynermark]

1 Jerry Can disliked this video..

[@rolandocrisostomo2003]

I never fill the tank all the way on my plane for a simple reason: i dont have a plane.

[@floriniancau5766]

1/3 of fuel bad management generate accident is very high rate; to change swich tank every 15 min not 30 min like in regulation is one of the way to prevent this;increase diameter of fuel pipe to prevent blocking with ice particle ; create a special circuit with a valve to push in reverse fuel in tank if the pipe have low pressure or ice inside;we are here with our brain for the new generation airplane; secondary fuel pipe from every tank;air intake for the tank filtration- with smart evaporating system-wen in off;prevent contamination with water from air in the tank of the refueling truck;

[@waterskipilot145]

My fuel tanks will make it a lot farther than my bladder.

[@winstonsmith3685]

I top off my motorcycle before I go anywhere.

[@nunayoorbidnez2119]

Had a riding buddy who always left the fuel switch set to reserve. We had to leave his bike at the roadside an hour from the nearest pump on day. Told him I wouldn't ride with him anymore unless he changed his habits.

[@franktrek1]

Here's the real answer cost no one wants to pay for all that expensive Avgas

[@flybyairplane3528]

franktrek1 When you want to see really fuel gauges, B 707, B 720, DC 8, then you will see the MOST INACURATE fuel gauges . The best fuel gauge I ever had was 65 Dodge Dart , it was always on the money.

[@_multiverse_]

These videos shouldn't need a reason to be made. It's just too bad how dumb people can be.

[@gillesbueno1153]

Boy! I wish I could afford the Buick the reckless pilot is driving !!…🙄🤣🤣

[@roccoVAL]

i like turtles

[@BrianOgilvie79]

bullshit premise..most fuel relates incidents dont happen because you have 5gal in the tanks. many types and inaccurate readings of the tanks.