Aerocat, you make a fundamental reading error by assuming I am talking about my personal fuel policy (which is full tanks and a massive reserve every time).
However what I am talking about is real world planning, try Four reasonably sized people in a Warrior for a bit more than an hours flight, where there is not a lot of weight left over for reserve fuel. So then there is a taxiing or some other delay, maybe some unforecast headwind and you just might find yourself down to fixed reserves as you come into land. Unless of course you wish to exceed MTOW, which I won't.
Add in an officious CASA prick on arrival, and a not very well calibrated dipstick, inaccurate gauges, an error in the fuel log (club aircraft), fuel theft and a missing bowser receipt, bear in mind that even one litre less than required will see you in trouble and we have a recipe for hours of distress followed by months of anguish if they decide to prosecute…or not.
Last edited by Sunfish; 26th Jan 2016 at 01:16.