Quote:
Originally Posted by sns3guppy
I went to work for a firm flying four engine radial powered airplanes, and during the initial ground school, was dismayed to learn that the company actually had a policy of running one engine with a half hour less fuel than the outboards, and one inboard engine with an extra half hour. The theory was that when one engine ran dry, the outboards had a half hour remaining, the other inboard had an hour, and the dry engine could be crossfed off the hour engine.
Most stupid thing I ever heard.
I refused to engage in that idiocy.
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That sounds stupid to me, too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sns3guppy
There is no good reason to run an engine dry.
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I disagree. There are a number of reasons to run a TANK dry, but I agree, not the entire engine's fuel. A one hour reserve--ALL IN ONE TANK is the safest option.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sns3guppy
Don't run tanks dry. Carry enough you don't have to, and plan ahead to you don't need to engage in that foolishness. It's an unwise thing to do.
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So, in a Twin Beech, that has three tanks per side, you are recommending leaving fuel in all three tanks? Unless I'm misunderstanding you, let me ask you this. Would you rather have your reserve spread around three tanks or all in one tank with all fuel choices made when you're on approach?
Quote:
Originally Posted by sns3guppy
We never ran large radials dry, incidentally.
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I have no idea who "we" is, but it was SOP at AA, United, Pan AM, Delta and all I know of to run the aux tanks dry in flight on a routine basis. It was a safety issue to have all of the fuel in one place during the approach and possible missed.
Captain John Miller ran R-3350s, four at a time for over 20,000 hours and says he ran the aux tanks dry on EVERY flight because he did not want to look stupid in an NTSB report for smacking the dirt with fuel spread around many tanks.
That said, do as you please. If you are afraid to run tanks dry, one day it is quite possible that you will NEED to and not be comfortable with the process when you need to be.
I run tanks dry routinely on max range trips and have yet to land with less than my one-hour reserve, but it is all in one place with my fuel decisions made more than an hour before landing.