You can never have enough fuel!

[Letdown]

Just thought a share with you all a situation that occured on Saturday when flying a local bimble from Welshpool, that illustrates why fuel planning and management is so important, but can so easily be overlooked.

Having uplifted 50 litres of fuel for a planned 1 hour bimble over to the Welsh mountains we took-off and climbed through the vey definable inversion at 3,000ft for what was a particularly enjoyable flight with fantastic vis all the way to the coast.

After 45 mins we headed back to the field for re-join. Welshpool was particularly busy on Saturday and there were three other aircraft in the circuit with a number within 5-10 miles planning to join to land. The downwind join was uneventful, as was the base leg. However when we were positioned as number two on final approach with the landing aircraft some two miles ahead, we noticed the aircraft depart the runway in what appeared to be a ground loop. We abanded the approach and flew a go-around and advised Welshpool Info of the situation. The runway was then declared closed while they attended to the two POB (both of which thankfully were unhurt and able to walk away from the aircraft) and remove the a/c from the runway.

The runway was only closed for around 20-30 minutes and we had in excess of 2 hours endurance left at that stage, with a couple of options (Sleap & Shobdon) alailable to us within 20-30 minutes, so no problems for us to lean the fuel, remain in the local area and wait to be advised when the runway was cleared and open.

However when reflecting on the incident later that evening it did illustrate to me the importance of insuring you have sufficient fuel on-board for both the planned flight and plenty in reserve for the unexpected, particularly on the local bimble!

It's the first time I've arrived at an airfield with the runway closed, so it was a good practical example of what's drilled-in to you during the various stages of your flight training - "make sure you have enough fuel on-board for the flight and the unknown"

[englishal]

Good advice. If I can, I'd always go topped up, which in my aeroplane means 5 hrs duration. That way I know I can travel anywhere between the South Coast and the Scottish boarder ;)

(Ahem, I once almost ran out of fuel, on the ILS the engine started missing, and there was no visible at parking. A mistake I never intend to repeat!:O)

[IO540]

Very wise.

2 hrs cruise power reserve for me, always.

The legal IFR is dest, then alt, then 45 mins, but that is way too tight when considering the alt weather is likely to be the same as the dest weather.

Also, when flying to the 3rd world (Greece etc), many "flight plan alternates" don't have avgas, don't have Customs, or have long PPR (e.g. 24hrs or even 2 weeks), so if you actually exercised that option you would be welcome with an armed guard, and then you have to arrange avgas shipped in drums while getting an airline flight back to the UK.

What are the G-reg legal VFR reserves? Destination + "sufficient" ?

[D SQDRN 97th IOTC]

i can think of time when you have too much fuel:

1. when you're on fire
2. when you need to make an emergency landing into the nearest airfield and you're still close to MTOW and the runway is short!
3. when you want to refill on the ground so you can get the maximum fuel duty claw back from the govt.
4. when you've filled the cherokee 140 to the brim, and two big adult passengers want to come up with you for a trip

[Lasiorhinus]

The legal IFR is dest, then alt, then 45 mins, but that is way too tight when considering the alt weather is likely to be the same as the dest weather.

Respectfully suggest you read the AIP, specifically ENR 1.1 Para 73, with reference to Alternate aerodromes.

If your alternate would have the same weather as the destination, and weather was a deciding factor in requiring an alternate, then it is not a suitable alternate.

[tigerbatics]

However when reflecting on the incident later that evening it did illustrate to me the importance of insuring you have sufficient fuel on-board for both the planned flight and plenty in reserve for the unexpected, particularly on the local bimble!

I agree if you can! Not always possible if the local flight is aerobatic however.

[BackPacker]

Not always possible if the local flight is aerobatic however.

Agree. But I think an aerobatic pilot departing with minimal fuel should have worked out his options beforehand. Including landing on a taxiway or a precautionary landing in a field if the main runway is blocked. And a typical aerobatic plane is better than the average spamcan in being able to handle "interesting" landings like that. At least, I'd rather take an R2160 into a field than a DA-40.

[DX Wombat]

I was taught to allow one hour's fuel plus ten percent of what was needed for the trip. You can get quite a long way on that even in a C152. :)

[ronnie3585]

I bore witness to a similar situation to the original poster at the weekend. A colleague of mine from the flying club took his aircraft and a passenger up for a "quick spin". While he was out of the zone some poor chap bent his seneca off the runway, resulting in the airport being closed for over an hour while the aircraft was being pulled from the grass.

Prior to his flight my colleague had debated with me filling his tanks as he was only going for a "quick spin", thankfully he filled them and was able to hold without a problem and land when the airport re-opened. Had he not filled them, with the fuel he had in the tanks prior to filling them, he would have been into a serious fuel emergency with the end VFR rapidly approaching.

I have read a lot about the importance of having a decent amount of fuel in your tanks even for a quick bimble or even circuit work, however the events of last weekend have taught me a lesson I will be slow to forget.

[FougaMagister]

Just as there is nothing as useless as runway behind you, the only time you have too much fuel is when you are on fire. I always endeavour to depart with full tanks when flying light aircraft; there is hardly any performance penalty for doing so, and most of them can accomodate a landing at or near MTOW. Even when going for a 1.5-2 hr trip, I take full tanks (5 hrs on a PA-28, 5hrs+ on a Robin), just in case. I also plan for a suitable diversion airfield (obviously including fuel planning). It's a good habit taught at CPL, and obviously something we do in the airlines, but it's equally applicable to GA.

Cheers :cool:

[Lasiorhinus]

Looking at the other side of the question here, though, even if you were flying in the circuit area with insufficient fuel to divert to another airport, there are very few places where an 'incident' such as another aircraft crashing on the runway would actually prevent a landing.

If you truly are stuck with severely limited fuel and no other airport within your remaining endurance, this certainly counts as an emergency situation. If theres another runway at the airport, bloody well use it. If not, declare a PAN or a MAYDAY, because it is an emergency, and land wherever you think is your best option. If the aircraft wreck on the runway is at one end, use the other end. If its in the middle, you might have enough room for a short field landing. If its off to one side, use the grass on the opposite side. Use a taxiway if you have to.

Just whatever you do, don't let someone else's crash be the cause of yours.