IO540
I don't fundamentally disagree with you. I have been told repeatedly not to trust the fuel gauges - they are only accurate when reading zero - and then its too late!
If I take a C172 or PA28 for a ride, I always look at the fuel gauge and make a visual check of the wing tanks. I also try to check when it was last filled and the flight time since, but not every pilot enters the refuelling into the log book, so its no guarantee.
However, If I am going for a 1 hour jolly in the local area, and the fuel gauges show half tanks and I can see the fuel, I will probably not fill it up, on the (perhaps mistaken) belief that 1/2 tank indication may not be exact but it will not be close to empty, and there should be at least an hour's flight in it.
If I am making a trip, I always fill up before leaving, so I know what I've got.
I even invested in one of those dip stick thingy's which you calibrate yourself by filling the tanks and marking the calibration sheet. However, I left it in the aircraft and it disappeared, as did several of my fuel testers.
The bottom line is that though the fuel gauges are not exact, I am horrified at the thought that they could be wrong by such an order of magnitude as 1/2 tank, or around 30USG, in the case in point.
I rather like Nr Fairy's broomstick idea. If I leave it in the aircraft, nobody's going to steal it as its too old fashioned.
