Good to the last "drop"

Learn from others mistakes, above all be safe!

Good to the last "drop"

Postby AS 2 Tom Little » 03 May 2010 11:17

On my 7x7x7 event leg #8 LGAD-EHWO, approximately 300NM from my destination I calculated not once but over 10 times [to be sure!] that I was going to be cutting it VERY close on fuel. So I cut the mixture back to bare minimums. I'm talking BARE minimums - as her engines sputtered of thirst for fuel and barely ran at 24,000 ft. Luck on my side I had a slight tailwind and low temps at this altitude. Checking every 20 or so NM, I could see that my lean procedures were helping but not exactly assuring an incident free landing. Her fuel burn gauges read a steady 74PPH as we cruised over the alps.

As we got closer to the destination I was checking the fuel gauges (tapping them to assure they were working :) checking myAAS for how many lbs. remained and checking the GPS for NM remaining. I decided the best descent was a slow one, but then reconsidered thinking "why not just run it up to the airport and cut the throttles then drift to the strip- this way at least I know I've made it?". Nahh, too risky so back to the slow descent method. Appx 70 NM from destination I started a descent of 1,000ft/min and cut the throttles back. She was descending so I would have to watch the mixtures closely, and indeed there were moments of her engines gasping so I rewarded with more fuel by advancing the mixture controls little by little.

Now approximately 10NM from the destination airport I was leveling off at 2,000 feet and noticed the fuel gauges read "1 gallon" in each tank. Sweating due to the higher temps at this altitude and fear to turn anything on that would use more fuel, I put my ball cap on backwards and cranked the throttles enough to stay level. MyAAS reported an anemic 15 lbs. of fuel remaining, this was calculated in my brain of no more fuel then my dog weighed - not a very comforting thought! Suddenly the airport came into sight! Oh, did I mention that the conditions were IFR and the control tower declined approval for landing - that is until I called back declaring a fuel emergency - that changed their tone!

I did not fly crosswind or base leg, I "dog legged" it in! On short final I put down the gear and added one notch flaps. I felt her lunge back as if saying "why oh why are you slowing me down!" Meanwhile I could not bare to think how much fuel remained in the tanks, but amazingly the engines still idled. Over the runway now, flared and landed perfect. On to the taxiway and headed straight for the fuel box. But before I stopped at the fuel box I *HAD* to check out how much fuel remained - just 3 LBS.!!

Plan accordingly, this could have been a disaster but luck was on my side.

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Re: Good to the last "drop"

Postby AS37 Norm Edwards » 03 May 2010 12:49

Thanks Tom, for the very comprehensive report, it was great to read and I liked the quip about the baseball cap - anything to relieve the stress! As your personal CDO for the Bid Event, I'm glad you made it!!! :)

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Re: Good to the last "drop"

Postby iang77 » 03 May 2010 16:56

Nice work and report, Tom!

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Re: Good to the last "drop"

Postby Leemazz » 03 May 2010 17:00

I imagine it was just like in the advert for FSX on youtube . What would have happened if you got the dreaded other aircraft at the side of you on finals with no warning from ATC , its the one thing i hate about Flightsim is the ATC and AI Aircraft on finals

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Re: Good to the last "drop"

Postby milo221 » 03 May 2010 17:22

Great story Tom!!

I really enjoyed reading it. It was just a little too close for my own comfort, but I have found myself in that situation a couple of times. I think that we sometimes tend to do things in the sim that we would never think of doing in real life. :)

Thanks,

-Dave

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