Stick those tanks! Visually inspect your fuel load during preflight! Had a friend who landed with half tanks the previous day so he figured he was good to go THIS day. I insisted he stick the tanks (his aircraft). Yep, right wing was completely dry due to a contaminated drain valve that dripped all of the fuel out of that wing overnight while tied down (found this during refueling, managed to re-seat the valve). Never assume anything when it comes to fuel load.

Big pearl for me was that when checking for water in the fuel consider that it's all water. Make sure to drain a good amount and check color.

The production quality of these videos just keep getting better and better! Thanks so much for making these, I look forward to seeing more.

For my airplane, I log all fuel added with the hours noted when the fuel was added. Before flying, I check the tach and knowing how much my plane burns per hour, I know exactly how much fuel is left in the tanks and how many hours of flying I have. Simple. When flying airplanes that others may have used, like a rental, I won’t fly unless I can visually confirm the load out...either topped off or filled to the indicator tabs that many planes have. Fuel load divided by burn rate tells me how many hours I can fly. Either method, always subtract one hour minimum from the calculated time available. Every time I get in the plane with a student I expect them to tell me how many hours we can fly before landing for fuel with a one hour reserve. I burn that methodology in their brain so it becomes second nature.

When I was 10, my uncle let me take the controls of his Cessna push-pull (Skymaster) for a few minutes. His goal was to give me a taste of the pleasure and excitement of flying. What I took from the experience instead was an instant conviction: _this is something I do not want to do._ I don't have the personality to be a pilot. As I grew up, I learned that I don't deal with pressure well, I'm easily distracted, I'm not detail oriented, and I'm absent-minded--I can go for extended periods with my "head in the clouds," no _double-entendre_ intended. Curiously, I *DO* respond well in a crisis, "keeping my head when all about me are losing theirs." Apparently danger makes me focus, and I'm good when I'm focused. However, that's not enough to make me think I'd be a good pilot. I'm glad there are pilots...so those of us who have no aptitude for it don't have to be one.

Good looking Buick. I consider myself of average intelligence, read well, and follow directions reasonably. However, after watching many many aircraft videos, I am certain it would be a good challenge to be a good pilot, and am thankful most commercial pilots take it serious. I have so many bad ground habits, and assume I can limp something home or tow it if it quits. There is no room for an idiot( like me) in the sky. Thanks guys for learning this stuff right!

Nice video. I am not proud to say that i almost got in real trouble due to a bunch of errors pointed here (head wind stronger than predicted, lots of cumulus nimbus and shower rain made me zig zag, first of January holidays with a close to sunset estimate that wouldn’t allow me to land and get to my destination made me get a get-there-itis). After that I wrote down all the points that led me to that corner, it was a route I constantly did, 300nm in a 3h flight. I set a maximum ete of 4h with a 4h45min endurance, a GS of no less than 70kt, and various fuel checkpoints around the route and count a fuel stop time in my sunset calculations. On the next week I got in a similar situation on the same route, but did a fuel stop 1h15min prior to my destination with a 1h45min of endurance. It took less than 30min to land, refuel and take off again.

Fuel gauges are only accurate under two conditions. Full and empty. That being said, learn what your airplane actually burns per hour, then make sure you are on the ground for fuel with at least 1 hour of fuel left in the tank. Check fuel before a flight, and by all means be present when the aircraft is being fueled. This is just good preflight procedures. Keep good records, and in route, if things are not going to plan, stronger than forecasted headwinds, make a mid-route fuel stop. I do that all the time. As for the money, well flying is not cheap, and well if you don't have money for fuel when you need it, maybe you can't afford to do the flying you are doing. I know the Bell 206B3 that I fly burns on average 24 to 26 gallons an hour. I flightplan 30 gph, with 95 gallons, 90 usable, I know I have 3 hours or 180 minutes total, with a 30 min reserve that drops down to 150 min or 2 hours and 30 min. Less depending on what I am actually doing at the time, unless you get some damage inflight and start losing fuel, Fuel starvation accidents are 100% preventable. To fill up a bell 206 when empty is about 400 to 450 dollars. My employer just gives me a card for the fuel, I also keep my own card just for such a purpose. Wrecking an aircraft due to fuel starvation is a lot more money than putting 400 dollars on a personal card and collecting latter. And yeah I have been stuck with the bill from time to time, but I never had an accident either, so in the long run, it's cheap personal insurance.

The only time you can have too much fuel is when you're on fire.

Excellent production value and invaluable information. The number of NTSB reports of incidents due to fuel starvation is shocking.

Even if you rent your aircraft, as I do, always make these preflight checks. I always do my own preflight checks as I figure it is their aircraft but my life. I was in the process of doing these one time and the renter came by and said, "Don't bother sweetie, I already checked everything for you." Well, obviously he never checked how much fuel the aircraft had after the last rental as I always specify a full tank when I rent and I found 1/4 of a tank. He had checked the fuel gauge, it said full but it turns out the gauge was faulty.

This video is a masterpiece. You just upped the standards! Congratulations, and thanks for the exquisite info!

11:38 is the reason I saw the remains of a plane that had crashed a mile short of the runway. Engine quit when they ran one tank dry and didn’t completely switch over to a full tank. Both pilot and passenger made it, but both had broken legs. It was crazy to see bloody hand prints and drag marks on the wing where they crawled out.

I have always looked and wished for a well built pilots wristwatch that would set off a vibration warning at 30, 45, or 60 minute intervals. In that way you would be sure to switch tanks and not miss an alert on the panel or hand held, etc. I have seen them with audible alarms but does little to help in a noisy cockpit while wearing a headset.

This is the one accident waiting to happen that is by far the easiest to prevent. Good job on the video!

Great vid ASI, I found this most informative, even as a non-pilot.

Reminds me, when I was getting my PPL I had to rescue no less than two CFIs in one car out of fuel on the highway.

It's always worth watching till the end with you :)

I love the way you make this videos so funny, please keep doing it. It so cool to learn with you

Fantastic video and very easy to comprehend!

Keep these coming!

This video was very entertaining. Thank you AOPA!

I don't know whether those guys at the beginning are actors or not, but they were great.

Really got a lot from this video.. Thank you.

Investigator : why didn't you land at that airport back there? Pilot : simple, I didn't have a credit card! Living proof that you don't need brains to be a pilot.

Well done!

I fly 3-4 days per week on a pipeline patrol job. I think there is only one time that I have landed with less than an hour of gas in the tanks. I think that part of it is that the electronic fuel totalizer always records that I am burning more than i actually am. And even though I "Know" that I have more than it is telling me, I can't ignore it. Also when I am doing my long deadhead home, I always land at the halfway mark (unless I have one heck of a tailwind). That keeps me from the temptation of trying to stretch it for the last 30minutes.

Not a pilot yet, but I never let my car get below a quarter tank (bad for the fuel pump). Am I on the right track?

Buen video, enseña muy bien. Thanks for this great video.

What a great video.... makes 100% sense...

Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!

Wow, great content and production!

My cfi said the only time you have too much fuel is if you are on fire. We always checked the fuel level with a dip stick into the tanks. Even if it was a short flight.

I grew up in Van Nuys airport and I can't tell you how many times planes flying from Phoenix to Van Nuys airport ran out of fuel a few miles short because of head winds unforeseen

id keep a parachute on if I had a friend like that

Have my PPL and going for my instrument, currently I never takeoff for a cross country trip without topping off all the tanks.

Nice Riviera!

Wow this video is so informative and funny! really enjoyed and learned

Never forget to double check!

This is why I want a bearhawk with a turbo-normalized engine like a UL 520T. Unless extreme density altitude, the answer is always "fill the tanks."

I have installed many fuel floats and a few STC kits for digital senders. 172s are just notorious for having some issue or another, and sometimes nothing seems to fix it besides an STC.

I wonder how many fuel starvation accidents there will be when they start the switch to hybrid and electric planes. The learning curve will have to be steep. I believe the temperature and pressure changes planes go through will wreak havoc on batteries way more than on Avgas and kerosene systems.

Always a special day to get new video. Thanks so much

I fly a Cessna 182 RG with extended range 80 gallon fuel tanks. I use the bladder method of flying. 3 hours in the air, and I am on the ground going to the bathroom and refueling the airplane at the same time. No way am I ever going to use up 80 gallons in 3 hours.

When boxing the controls, visually look to see they actually move correctly and verbally state..."Left turn, Left aileron full up, Right turn, Right aileron full up, Control wheel full aft, elevator full up."

Excelent!!!!!

I love this video

Nice old car, I think it is a 60's Buick Wildcat or maybe a Riv.

Are these pilot training videos that they watch, like when you watch that red asphalt movie in driving school?

I must admit that driving a car I'm like the dude on the beginning. Once I hit reserve I reset the odometer and drive for another 30 miles. On the plane it's a different story. I use a countdown from the moment I start the engine. The time is based on usable fuel on board and a conservative fuel burn figure of 8 gal/h for a C172.

How was that CFI without a credit card disciplined?

‘Pulls out map’: nah imma use my map

With 50 years of experience, driving or flying, 1/4 tanks is my fill up point before I go anywhere.. If I can't trust the fuel gauge, I'll run as far as I can, knowing the fuel flow I can expect. Never less then 1/4 tank level. Saving $$$ pushing to get a lower fuel price is stupid.

good points

I want a book writing more ditels about aircraft pliz tell me

Okay, I know this is an older vid'... AND I hope there's going to be an update/rebuild... BUT I gotta say this. Folks, look through the checklists and the step-by-step you went through just to be able to land AT THE AIRPORT... That's the very place and conditions for which your plane (ANY plane) was designed to land... LOOK at how complicated it gets and how many techniques YOU HAVE TO USE to safely put that thing on the ground "the way it's supposed to work". Now, consider this. In my car, or on my motorcycle, when I run out of gas, I can pull over about anywhere safely. There's ALWAYS a soft shoulder nearby. Even on the rare occasion I can't reach such, it's reasonably safe enough to stay my ass in the car until help arrives, right there. It's rarely particularly unsafe to do so. Where the F*** are you going to "coast to a shoulder" in your plane??? NOT the ground. It's friggin' DANGEROUS to try to coast down and go all cavalier or "cowboy" about putting a plane on the ground. There's advanced EXTRA training to put planes on the ground in "off runway landings", EVEN when the planes are designed AND equipped to do so. Your average Cessna is NOT so designed NOR equipped. Smart money says, YOUR plane isn't either. The REALITY is that there is no such shoulder up there. There are no mystical floating platforms for you to reach and wait for gas, or get a fill-up. The Military might have in-flight fueling, but that's a damnably tricky, dangerous, and nefariously precision oriented maneuver, and we are ONLY General Aviators with dinky little planes that are barely more than a flying VW bug . With all the safety devices they DO have, it's not worth gambling your life OR the lives of passengers on the random place you have to BE "the cowboy" who can put the plane down in one piece. It's just that simple. Before there's a question of whether you'll "probably get there", you NEED to have a stop-over for fuel. For us GENERAL AVIATOR TYPES, there simply is NO SUCH THING as an emergency or business that's worth dying for. There are precious few worth risking the plane for. The Emergency and Commercial Pilots have their companies and agencies to dictate the fuel stops and ranges and acceptable limits. They sign contracts to take the risks they take (if any)... BUT WE never get medals for making a winter run through horrific weather to deliver anything. We don't get a pay raise or bonus for cutting the costs of reserve fuel over a medium or long haul. We ARE NOT in the business of flying. We ARE IN THE HOBBY of flying! Remember that. ;o)

This is the ASI version of a Seinfeld episode! Awesome :)

a wise man once told me: the only time there's too much fuel onboard is when you're on fire!

[using pen on a map] dude

That looks like some tasty refreshing 100LL!

I want to contribute with "brazilian" Portuguese subtitles. How may I do this?

3 things you can't get back in aviation. The attitude above ya, the runway behind ya, and the fuel you didn't put in the plane back at the airport!!

And this is why I take off with full tanks every time. Even the local ones. I’ve made people leave bags and other things like that to keep light enough for take off minimums.

Good video, but missed an elephant in the room. The biggest factor in fuel miss-management is USEFUL LOAD which for many private planes looks like a “useless load”. Pilot has to balance “…an extra luggage, or an extra passenger or more fuel”. The video suggests (at 4:30) “… fill it to the top, unless you absolutely restricted by weight of passengers and cargo”. Unless you’re flying alone, you’re ALWAYS restricted by weight of passengers and cargo. If all those 4 seats are occupied (even with middle-weight people and minimal luggage) how much weight is left for a fuel? Just enough for case study on fuel miss-management. And the second big problem is notoriously inaccurate fuel gauges. Why in the 21st century manufacturers can’t produce planes with accurate fuel gauges (and USEFUL load instead of useless load) - beats me.

but what car is that?

top marks

Can we get WINGS credit?

Lol who are the 6 people who downvote this? I just.... I don't understand who thinks this is bad information?

Funny detail. The car tell us that the footage is made in the seventies, but the aircraft's looks the same as many of them used today

Former refueler at MSP, as I remember rule was requested (which I think most airline software allowed for an extra hour) + 10%. Love the Buick Riviera at the beginning (free giveaway to subscribers?)

How does water get into a fuel cell?

Fill'er up!

E for enough?

In this video we are reminded that being a pilot does not compensate for being stupid. Good training builds good habits and I have to wonder why this is as big an issues as it seems to be?

Alright so you have a finite amount of fuel don’t use exactly how much you have because you could run out in the sky

I have no idea why I'm watching these. Never touched a plane before.

1 Jerry Can disliked this video..

1/3 of fuel bad management generate accident is very high rate; to change swich tank every 15 min not 30 min like in regulation is one of the way to prevent this;increase diameter of fuel pipe to prevent blocking with ice particle ; create a special circuit with a valve to push in reverse fuel in tank if the pipe have low pressure or ice inside;we are here with our brain for the new generation airplane; secondary fuel pipe from every tank;air intake for the tank filtration- with smart evaporating system-wen in off;prevent contamination with water from air in the tank of the refueling truck;

thats easy.. when your engine starts sputtering..time to look for a place to land

Cardinal sin...trusting your fuel gauges.......Figure out what your fuel burn when fully rich and use THAT as your base number...NOT the leaned burn. Then ALWAYS use timing and not gauges to maintain a decent mount of reserve. There is no way to blame anyone but the pilot for fuel exhaustion. And yes it has happened to me. Learn from OTHERS mistakes and don't let it happen to you. I would bet the one thing not mentioned in this video is taking off overweight. I've seen it many times in my career. Fuel is the only way to adjust weight if you HAVE to take a certain weight of pax or cargo. But always remember it's better to plan than take chances. You can't pull over and call AAA. Barring mechanical problems you should never have to worry about running out of fuel if you plan properly.

There is no "range." There is only "endurance. "

Never trust fuel gauges, always stick the tanks!!!!

I never fill the tank all the way on my plane for a simple reason: i dont have a plane.

My fuel tanks will make it a lot farther than my bladder.

Fill it all the way. Waste a bit, save lives.

I top off my motorcycle before I go anywhere.

Get-thereititis killed 71 people on the 28th of November 2016.

The poor Rail and Road infra-structure of America,combined with it's vast size and the obsession for coastal city planning,has led to a lazy dependence on aircraft,be it commercial or light private.Hence the world's leading country of Aircraft crashes and fatalities. Take note of the next world Superpower country,China! They have built more motorway/railtrack in 1 year than America in 200 years,realising the importance of transport infra-structure !

Here's the real answer cost no one wants to pay for all that expensive Avgas

i like turtles

Boy! I wish I could afford the Buick the reckless pilot is driving !!…🙄🤣🤣

These videos shouldn't need a reason to be made. It's just too bad how dumb people can be.

bullshit premise..most fuel relates incidents dont happen because you have 5gal in the tanks. many types and inaccurate readings of the tanks.