Don't marry your decision (flying decisions) - always keep an open mind

[Codeeno]

I had a great weekend. Got to the airport early Sunday morning, did my pre-flight, all is good, looked at fuel - decided I was good for the hour flight. Took off, great trip above a layer that broke up about 15 miles from my destination. This allowed me to pull throttle back and an easy decent below the broken layer, perfectly aligned with a left downwind into KTOR. Favorable wins and planning allowed for another amazing Commander landing.

Spent the day with friends and another one of my hobbies - then all too soon - it's time for me to go home. Go back to the airport, pre-flight 42W, breakout the ipad look at my intended flight - KTOR direct-ish (meander around a Bravo) to KFTG/KFCO - my home. Weather is good, light headwind. FBO has already closed for the day, look at fuel - it's an 1:12 flight, JPI says I have 1:47 of fuel - so I have the VFR reserve. I say, ok, I won't call out someone to get fuel and besides it is kinda expensive here. I bought the JPI so I would have more complete information for my decision making. It's below my minimums, but, I have good data, so clearly it's a good decision. So I depart.

Take off - all is great. I take off from 10, then turn south, climb up to 7500 - so for me a very low flight. Contact Denver, got Flight Following, feeling okay, but, nagging question about fuel. I look at the JPI, compare the data with the ipad and current location. Yes, the JPI says I will have 37 minutes of fuel above what I need. But, the gallons required from my ipad don't really match with the JPI and time available. I motor along, thinking - am I just being too cautious? My personal mins are typically an hour of reserve fuel. So is this discomfort because I am doing something different. I made the decision, I have good data. I keep flying.

It's been a whole 5 minutes now and when you are alone in the cockpit, with nothing but Approach/Center talking, you have some really good conversations with yourself. So those conversations circle around fuel, time, distance and COG posts. I remember someone posting about inaccurate fuel gauges. I recall a post about fuel flow and maneuvering. Then I have this epiphany. You decided to take off - ok - but - who says that means you can't change future decisions? Why not be flexible and review? The data on the ground was solid, but, now that you're 30 mins into it - it doesn't look as solid and it doesn't feel right. Why do you have to stick to the decision to go home? The decision was to depart - why not stop and take on some fuel? Who say's you can't do that? I talk to Denver, tell them I am swinging over to KCYS (Cheyenne) - they say thanks and hand me off to Cheyenne Approach who sets up up for an easy left downwind for 13. Simple nice pattern and Commander landing. I taxi over, top my tanks off and then head home.

I felt great going home - so I was 30-ish mins later than I thought - so what? I had another nice landing. I got a night landing. So with all these positives, why was it so hard to alter my VFR flight? Looking back, do I need to get "tougher" or relax my minimums? The answer is no. I am not a high time pilot only about 500 hours. I like safety and I feel better knowing that I am not painted into a corner. So I don't have to let decision bias drive future decisions.

So what is the "right" thing - that depends on you - but - in this instance - stopping for fuel was absolutely the right thing. Yes, I burned more fuel in diverting 15 miles, taxiing, and another departure. Looking at the math afterwards, I burned 1.2 gallons more than I had available (when I made the decision to divert) - even though the time till "empty" still had enough fuel and a 37 min reserve.

My lesson: Make the best decision you can with data available at the time, but don't make that a "until death do us part" decision. Be will to reevaluate, review and modify future decisions based on newer data and your degree of comfort. Don't let one decision dictate all the following decisions. Remain flexible, willing to reevaluate and modify your course,

 

[gmascelli]

Thanks for sharing your story, it's a good learning experience for all pilots.

Always a good call to stop and tanker some additional fuel. I always have to have an hour reserve for my comfort factor, even in VFR conditions. I usually tanker more.

I don't trust gauges and I constantly cross check my JPI fuel remaining with my calculations. The one thing I always do is stick the tanks, that way I know whats available without relying on anything but my own eyes.

 

[mrcshbs]

That was a great decision you made. Thank you so much for sharing. I try as much as I can to get at least 1 hour. I've flown a few times with 45 min reserves but I want that peace of mind. One less thing to worry about.

 

[wiguy]

Yes, 1:12 over 1:47 fuel is way to tight for me. At the most I would fly a short distance towards the ultimate destination. More likely I would do the call out for the high priced fuel. Better yet, stop for cheap fuel on the way in, knowing I may leave after hours.

I totally agree on the not getting married to a plan. I still say, the airborne divert is a great safety tool. That assumes the proper preflight checks & decision making were done. Another issue is eroding the safety margins, with a smaller margin, it’s easier to one day fall over the edge.

Always a good reminder for any of us.

 

[Sherman]

Dean- Great Write up of you PRUDENT decision. Ive had a couple of those fuel related flights/ decisions that your sharing brought back:
1991- 1st Flight back to Oklahoma in 112TC 4531W after the Wing Spar Mod at the Factory the yr b4. I had left Norman at 7AM ( yeah I really used to be able to do that) and was at 11,500 E over Missouri. Didn't know Kelly then, so had flight planned fuel at E St Louis. S of Springfield. Don't even think I had LORAN then, but planned 12.5 gph, based on my previous years experiences & starting with the full 68 gal & I thought I was pretty much on my ETA. So as I viewed (the city of) St Louis ( planned cps), decided to cross the Mississippi with a long slow descent into Centrailia. 4.2 hrs flight. Tanks took 62 gal. Freaked, I noted drip from fuel drain after testing. Since then have never planned a flight without planning 15ish gal on landing. Unless I am just flying around the pattern for maintenance of currency. Then still want 10 gal remaining, 5 each wing, based on my wing wiggle preflight - slosh.

This 'safety factor' saved my life enroute to COG flyin 2007 CGI. Fresh out of Annual, Left MTN for LOU calculating 43-45 gal 3.5 hrs.

In flight near Charleston WVirginia, really needed a pit stop. Very bumpy, turbulence on descent into Huntington. Typical bumpy approach to 30.

Coming back to plane Blue stains all over Nose Wheel U fork. Took 54 gal. Flew to LOU, found braided fuel line into carb weeping.

Got good fuel line across river at Clark Indiana next morning, but FAA guy gave me ramp check while I was working on it. Long story some know but replaced line, no leaks at 30#, now afternoon. & made it to CGI just before horrendous wind front came thru. Those there know If CPAC didnt get us all in the hanger we might have several less in the surviving fleet. Had New fuel line made up.

Stuff can happen but we can control our starting fuel level.

Start my Annual in 2 weeks.

 

[alim]

I use 3 sources of fuel calculations on board

- measured : CIES senders
- Totalizer - based on power/flow rate - JPI 930
- Time- Using about 13.5 GPH - Stopwatch

Most accurate thus far have been CIES senders - within a gallon accuracy.

Even with CIES senders - which thus far are holding ~ 1 gallon accuracy your potential flight would have been a close number.
And you are right - any steep turns etc with tanks so low would give you fuel starvation.

Thus far i've brought my tanks to 7 Gallons per side thats ~1 hour reserve.
Thats about my minimum i would go.

PS> and yes i would do CIES senders again.

 

[rringgold]

I flew to a pancake breakfast a few years ago knowing I would need fuel when I arrived. Found out they only sell Swift fuel, which I promptly refused. ( I vaguely remember that Swift fuel couldn’t be used in our higher Compression IO-360’s). Another lesson learned about planning! That guy named Murphy is always lurking, looking for a way in...

 

[Codeeno]

Another issue is eroding the safety margins, with a smaller margin, it’s easier to one day fall over the edge.

Accidents/incidents and mishaps are typically a combination of several things - they are not (typically) just one isolated decision or event. My safety margins are my margins and eroding those, could have been another step in the direction. We get so complacent with today's cars - the lights and warnings we all know occur early so rarely is there an immediate demand to do something. Our planes give us the information and expect us to make the decisions - we have true gauges and information to make decisions.. not idiot lights.

 

[Codeeno]

Coming back to plane Blue stains all over Nose Wheel U fork. Took 54 gal. Flew to LOU, found braided fuel line into carb weeping.

Stuff can happen but we can control our starting fuel level.

Start my Annual in 2 weeks.

Sherman - you are right we control the starting point. I too have had blue stains around my wing/drains. Luckily those were just a minor seep that occurred a few times - made me really nervous that I was going to be losing fuel in flight. Rebuilt those and that remedied that.

Good luck with the annual. Yesterday was almost 90 here - I hope you have nice cool weather for your work!

Dean

 

[Codeeno]

I use 3 sources of fuel calculations on board

- measured : CIES senders
- Totalizer - based on power/flow rate - JPI 930
- Time- Using about 13.5 GPH - Stopwatch

Most accurate thus far have been CIES senders - within a gallon accuracy.

Even with CIES senders - which thus far are holding ~ 1 gallon accuracy your potential flight would have been a close number.
And you are right - any steep turns etc with tanks so low would give you fuel starvation.

Thus far i've brought my tanks to 7 Gallons per side thats ~1 hour reserve.
Thats about my minimum i would go.

PS> and yes i would do CIES senders again.

I think using multiple sources is critical for good decision making. I've had my JPI in for 2 years. It's typically within a .1 of a gallon - it is scary how accurate it is.

I typically use; time, JPI Time to Empty, JPI Fuel burn/remain, iPad fuel required (14 GPH burn)

When everything agrees everything is great. The challenge is what you do when you have conflicting data or resolutions.

Like you my min is an hour at 14 gph - and that trip reaffirmed it

Dean

 

[Codeeno]

I flew to a pancake breakfast a few years ago knowing I would need fuel when I arrived. Found out they only sell Swift fuel, which I promptly refused. ( I vaguely remember that Swift fuel couldn’t be used in our higher Compression IO-360’s). Another lesson learned about planning! That guy named Murphy is always lurking, looking for a way in...

Rolf,

I've had similar - flying back from FL about 4 years ago - planned a stop Alabama-ish for fuel. Land taxi over - they are closed, fuel is not available - luckily, it wasn't a critical stop and there were other airports within about 30 mins away. Murphy is slick and shows up ALL the time!

Dean

 

[Jamesdub]

I'm a sissy in my old age. 10 gal's per wing on landing is my goal. On a (seldom) long x-ctry I will cheat a bit into those figures but not by much maybe 7 gal's per.

Dean, you absolutely did the right thing and in retrospect - what $$ value can you place on your peace of mind?

Of all the things to worry about making the perfect flight each time, fuel quantity is one of the easiest to control.

Moazzam,

A little more info on the CIES sensors? Sure you had to re-calibrate the JPI quantity any thing else on the conversion?

My JPI (930) fuel flow is right on - and the fuel quantity gauges do an excellent job once below 27 gals . . .

 

[alim]

CIES - had to do the initial calibration. Empty ; Add ; confirm value ; add ; confirm value ( i think 5 Gallon increments). They are accurate below 28 Gallons. per side - which only take them 30 mins 34--> 27 to start registering properly. I was initially chasing why they were not accurate from 34 -> 27 but CIES confirmed that as normal behavior.

JPI 930 Fuel totalizer by itself does excellent - however - if there were a leak - it would never catch it.



see top chart - LEFT and RIGHT tanks .. - see the jitter between 27 Gallons and 34. And then below 27 gallon it settles down on the reporting.
bottom chart is totalizer - USED - 0---> 68 ; right (Lt blue is fuel flow)

 

[Jamesdub]

In another life (far away) I had the privilege of flying the AH-1 Cobra attack helo. It had two large fuel cells (bladders) fore and aft of the wing stores inside the fuselage. One night our stop-over field's refueling point went down and doing some very quick metal math - figured I had 'just' enough to get us back to the home base.

Like Dean mentioned above, Take-off was uneventful but each minute into the flight our attention was glued to the fuel gauge with second thoughts on what the heck we were doing?? Add the fact that it was 'Gutten Dark' over the Germany countryside I'd much rather be flying with full tanks.

In highspeed flight (max range) we were in a nose low attitude and a few min's from our base we saw a flicker on our master caution panel; Aft Boost Pump failure, yeap we'd sucked the fuel out of the aft tank. Additionally we'd been monitoring another caution light that reminded us we had 20 min' s fuel remaining.

I was able to get clearance to land directly to our refueling point and when we leveled to a hover the fore boost light began to flicker when we settled into a fueling pad. Think we took on 250 gals of 262 possible. that was too dang close and NEVER AGAIN since . . .

 

[Jamesdub]

JPI 930 Fuel totalizer by itself does excellent - however - if there were a leak - it would never catch it.


I had that very discussion with a hangar mate last night, My fear is a gasolater deciding to open in flight . .

 

[Codeeno]

John - Your Cobra/Germany flight is definitely an experience that makes a lasting impression

John and Moazzam - yeah.. the JPI is great at what it does, but, it can't help us in a leak from ____ (gascolator, wing sump, belly sump) - I am always watching those each time I pre-flight to make sure there aren't drips on the hangar floor, no blue around them, then once I pull fuel from them, I keep checking them to make sure they are not dripping.

The things we do for "fun"! LOL

Dean

 

[sr30sb]

Great decision, I always try to fly with the max fuel available. My minimum fuel at my destination is 1 hour 15 minutes. It is extreme but I am not running out of fuel.

 

[Codeeno]

Kevin - yeah - my idea is to prevent the preventable challenges - and fuel should be one of them.

Dean

 

[alim]

John - Your Cobra/Germany flight is definitely an experience that makes a lasting impression

John and Moazzam - yeah.. the JPI is great at what it does, but, it can't help us in a leak from ____ (gascolator, wing sump, belly sump) - I am always watching those each time I pre-flight to make sure there aren't drips on the hangar floor, no blue around them, then once I pull fuel from them, I keep checking them to make sure they are not dripping.

The things we do for "fun"! LOL

Dean

yeah but your CIES senders coupled with a JPI 930 will give you an actual measurement .. and warning.
And if your primary analog senders are functional going to the 930 - they will too - just the rate may not be so linear on display . The JPI will blink low fuel tank at you all the same.

 

[kgrant]

I had that very discussion with a hangar mate last night, My fear is a gasolater deciding to open in flight . .

Had that happen on a .8 hr flight. Kirksvill lineman told me on shutdown I had fuel running out behind the nosegear. I was short about 8 gall Not enough to get my attention on the factory gauges. Glad the exhaust didn't "spark". k