Posted on 04/05/2015 5:15:11 PM PDT by Stayfree
My neighbor who flies out of Van Nuys and Santa Monica told me that he had a conversation with the operators of a fuel truck at Santa Monica airport recently in which the fuel truck operators said that for some reason they were not asked to fill up Harrison Ford's vintage airplane with fuel which they usually do before he uses the plane and that Ford just hopped aboard the plane without checking it out before taking off.
I have no way of verifying this, but it apparently the most recent news coverage suggested engine failure, but now explanation as to why the engine failed....lack of fuel sounds like a reasonable explanation to me!
I have operated the slide on a 1911 .45 a thousand times or more.
One day it just went off, inside my suburban, with 3 people in it.
Bullet cleared AC vent without damage and lodged in some frame insulation.
About a year later it dropped to the floor.
Young Kennedy died soon after he was telling acquaintences that he was going to run for Moynihan’s Senate seat; the one Hillary just happened to want. Pure coincidence no doubt.
Couple things here.
Pilots are supposed to fill their planes with as much fuel as possible so air cavities don’t get water droplets during morning temp changes.
Pilots are Always supposed to do a preflight prior to flying. One of those major preflight checks is Always supposed to check fuel supply.
Pilots who do not follow preflight check lists often end up crashed or dead.
Complacency?
Ask John Denver.
I bet you have a preflight checklist as do i.
Those who follow it closely live to poke more holes in the sky.
I fly an RV-6a
What do you?
You can tell if the fuel tank is empty on a light airplane. On take off the plane seems to leap into the air. It feels really different.
Yup and the center of gravity is more to the rear when the tank is empty. You should be able to tell immediately when you trim up.
At least Eric, Kyle, Stan, and Kenny did better: I’m quite sure the $62 covered at least 43 gallons of 100/130 avgas (green)...
I don’t need to tell the two of you, but for the benefit of the others here... we have had a Piper Cherokee 140 for the last 20 years which is one of the very easiest planes to fly. Fuel exhaustion is the leading cause of “engine failure” in Cherokees as well as pretty much every other General Aviation aircraft.
Our gauges have never let us down, but we still don’t trust them... we always do a visual check of the fuel in the tanks before taking off as part of the preflight. We also use a rigid plastic tube that is precisely calibrated to measure the amount of fuel in each tank. It is used by dipping it to the bottom of each tank and then holding your thumb over the upper end as you pull it up and read the level.
We don’t always keep the tanks full. Our tanks have a tab you can see when you look into them that indicates when each tank has 18 gallons. Because the Cherokee 140 has only a 150HP Lycoming O-320 the amount of weight that you can get into the air with you is limited. The standard amount of fuel is considered 36 gallons which weighs 216 pounds, with full tanks one is carrying 50 gallons which weighs 300 pounds.
With the Cherokee one uses first one tank and then the other. We know what the normal fuel burn is for a given power setting and we keep a log with the time spent using each tank. As fuel is used out of each tank that wing becomes lighter and it is necessary to use more and more rudder trim to keep plane flying straight hands off. This makes it easy to remember which tank is getting lower on fuel.
Unlike RV-6s Cherokee 140s do not ever leap into the air. Depending on the temperature and altitude the plane may perform “well” with full tanks. If it is hot and the plane it as at a high altitude it may not perform very well even with very little fuel in the tanks.
NO responsible pilot just hops in his/her plane without going thru the checkoff personally. It’s the pilot’s responsibility and no one else’s. So I guess Ford is foolish and irresponsible. He should either start to take responsibility or stop flying. He’s been lucky so far if that’s his attitude. He could not only kill himself but a good number of others, depending on circumstances.
Bookmark
Beat me to it. Basic safety. Most pilots think it’s important.
Same thing w John Denver as I recal.
Here I thought it was a wing and a prayer. Who knew!
The three most worthless things to an unintentional glider pilot are the altitude above you, the runway behind you and the gas left back at the pump.
The golfing surgeon who extracted him said that he smelt fuel and saw some leaking.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-31772889
One of the pictures in the article shows the top of the fuel tank damaged after the crash. It’s just ahead of the front windshield above the pilot’s legs.
Thread over.
It’s no atomic propelled fridge, that’s for sure.
On cool mornings I can get to 800feet by the end of my 4000 foot runway.
In the middle of July maybe 500feet.
36 gallons and cruze at about 145 with 3/4 throttle.
I’m sipping maybe 4.5 gallons and hour and can not go long enough to run out without stopping for a rest room break.
Always leave at least 1/3 and fill up for safety sake.
I usually fly one hour on one tank then switch over to keep the plane balanced.
I live and fly out of FL37.
Coolest thing I ever did as a pilot was to fly up to 10,000 feet about ten miles north of Sebastian with my son and we watched and filmed a shuttle launch.
Way kool.
While that is true..., on a number of CAP search missions, wrecks have been located where fuel exhaustion was the cause (including one I located). I vividly remember a flight made by a Jacksonville Doctor and his family many years ago. They had a brand-new Cessna 310 (twin engine).
He filled the tanks before leaving Jacksonville, proceeded to fly all over the state landing to show off the plane to family and friends then flew back to Jacksonville. Unfortunately, the NTSB investigation revealed that, despite landing at several cities throughout the day..., HE NEVER BOUGHT ANY FUEL THROUGHOUT THE FLIGHT! He and his family died when the plane ran out of fuel a few dozen miles from Jacksonville! (note: that wreck was not found by me)
I bought myself the ultimate boy toy on my 60th B Day 10 years ago - a C-172. That is what I bore holes in the sky now for fun.
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