
What made the discussion interesting were the possible errors and limitations of the various methods. They base their flight planning on both a known fuel quantity and engine run time. Others check their fuel level and keep good records of their aircraft's fuel burn per flight hour. Some Club members used their fingers or just looked into the tanks to see if they were full. That same company also makes a generic tube with a corresponding chart that pilots or owners can calibrate to their specific aircraft.

For example, there are calibrated pipettes for the Cessna 182 with standard tanks and another for the C 182 with long-range tanks. Some commercial aircraft fuel measuring tubes have been calibrated for special aircraft and their respective size tanks. In the case of measuring fuel, one end of the tube is inserted vertically to the bottom of the tank, and the open end is blocked with a finger so that the tube retains the amount of fuel that corresponds to the level of fuel in the tank. Pipettes are narrow diameter tubes used to collect fluid either by suction or by being inserted into a liquid and then closing the upper end of the tube to retain the fluid. Others used pipettes to measure the fuel level. Some used wooden sticks or dowels to measure (dip) their tanks.

Reprinted with permission of FAA Aviation NewsĪ while ago, the Short Wing Piper Club's Internet chat room had an interesting discussion about how some of the members checked fuel quantity.
