Originally Posted by
scavenger
This attitude is part of the problem - pilots hear this dribble often enough and they don't look at the gauges.
If the gauges are not reliable, the aircraft is unairworthy. Write them up and get them fixed, whether or not the aircraft is 'light'.
CASA in its wisdom reintroduced regular fuel tank calibration. Gigantic waste of money and a retrograde step in my view. There is no reason why the fuel gauges should no be reasonably accurate.
Furthermore, the thinking owner / pilot will be doing periodic cross checks of refuel quantities with gauge readings.
I have tabled every fuel tank calibration that out Seneca has had in its life and there is very little variation. In fact I would suggest that the major variotiin is caused by LAME's who don't know how to do it properly.
Then of course there is the $2 piece of wood Dowling that every aircraft should have as a calibrated dipstick. Once again, it probably only takes 6-10 refuels to draw a calibration line.
Gee - maybe it would be a safety enhancement if the ATSB published some tips about this??