Fuel Follies

Youre alone in your Lancair Evolution single-engine turboprop. You have just refueled at Chicagos Midway Airport and are headed to Denver, which your computer says is 788 nm away. The weather is good. The flight planning youve accomplished says it will take 3+15 and 121 gallons of the 170 available with the tanks filled. On startup, you reset your fuel totalizer to 170 gallons.

Thursday, July 20, 2017 at 12:00 AM ET

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Key Takeaways:

Pilots can encounter unexpected low fuel situations due to significant discrepancies between fuel gauges, totalizers, and actual fuel on board, even with seemingly robust systems.
These inaccuracies stem from multiple factors, including incomplete refueling (e.g., due to air bubbles or unlevel ramps), incorrect fuel transducer calibration (K-Factor), and miscalibrated tank sensors.
To ensure flight safety, pilots should verify their aircraft's real-world fuel capacity, ensure accurate K-factor settings for their totalizer, and always trust the most pessimistic fuel reading when instruments disagree.

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You’re alone in your Lancair Evolution single-engine turboprop. You have just refueled at Chicago’s Midway Airport and are headed to Denver, which your computer says is 788 nm away. The weather is good. The flight planning you’ve accomplished says it will take 3+15 and 121 gallons of the 170 available with the tanks filled. On startup, you reset your fuel totalizer to 170 gallons.

While ATC keeps you down low longer that you would have wanted, you’re soon at cruising altitude and your instrumentation predicts you’ll have 35-36 gallons over the destination airport. So far, so good.