fuel OR oil.......

[Guest pokey]

Have been trying to teach my friend ( who owns AND is appropriately rated) to pre-flight / fly/general knowlege of his 300.,,, lately i just "shut my mouth" & watch/see what he has learned,, ( a fierce battle). Yesterday went quite well tho, was impressed w/ his "retention" of all we went over

 

After about 30 minutes of hovering ( changing & 20+knots wind) & some take offs/landings, i asked him "so Bob? how much fuel do we have?" ( on downwind no less--aint i a stinker) -------he looked at the gage ! , and i could see the "blank" look on his face,,,,,,,,,, i then asked "how much oil do we have"---responed "just under 6 quarts"

 

NEEDLESS ! to say , i hope he never again forgets to either "dip the tank" OR visually check the fuel level (i watched him "forget" the fuel & check the oil)

 

(BTW, i knew we had 20+ gallons on board B4 we took off)

 

In Bob's defense tho, his "approved" checklist required him to check the fuel quantity AFTER the mag-check. ( dont get me started on checklists again !)

[West Coaster]

Which is more important eh? Oooo, that's a tough one. Obviously my personal thought is neither, a lack of one or the other can ruin a day in a hurry!

 

But if forced at gun-point to make a decision, I would say oil is more important. If you run out of fuel, it affects only you and your passengers. Very bad!

 

If you run low on oil to the point the engine seizes on you, also very bad. However there is a more likely chance of causing accellerated wear on the engine that won't affect you, but the people who fly that machine after you. Might be a few days or weeks later... maybe even longer but someone, sometime will eventually experience the effect. Might just be a small lack of power when it's needed the most, or a failure of a critical engine component that wore out ahead of it's time. (This all assumes that no one ever noticed the flight was low on oil and never had the engine inspected afterwards looking for heat stresses or fatigue)

 

That's why I figure oil is more important. I want my screw-ups to affect me and my flight, not those who come along later. Let them bugger it up on their own.

[Goldy]

I'm with West Coaster on this one- both give you an in flight failure, 30 gallons of fuel runs about $100, a new Lycoming engine is about $40,000.00

[flingwing206]

Which is most important - the red, yellow or blue blade?

 

...the blue blade, if it's the one that done blew off the helicopter!

 

I'd say right up to the point where you run out of fuel, oil is more important.

[Guest pokey]

ok its 3 for Bob & his oil then ! ( well actually 4- IF ya count me) BUT? this wasnt the "method to my madness" for asking this question.

 

the madness/method behind it was: "why can you (Bob) answer ONE specific question about our flight today, but NOT another" reason?- hmmm IS there a "reason for running out of fuel & NOT oil?"

 

Instructors, passengers, AND pilots,,,,, ASK questions ! ( & watch)

(you students keep asking too)

 

 

like the FAA says "a safe flight is no accident"

 

 

oh & fling?! "the one that blew off" !! klassik ! i never herd that one B4

(altho i think i red about it