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DomAviator -> RE: Pilots run out of fuel, start praying... (5/22/2008 9:52:57 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Termyn8or
I got a question, if enough people hijack a thread in the same direction, is it still a hijack ? Additionally, if a Man can't hear his Woman in the forest, and a tree falls is he still......Never mind that one.
DA, I respect the ability to pilot an aircraft. I know what it takes, but I also know that I do not have what it takes. At 47 I am not going to start now.
But I have known people who got into it, just privately, small wing stuff. When the one was in the course, fuel was discussed alot. It is alot more important in those little Cessnas and what have you. Air direction and speed are stressed, vs your flight path. Over a certain amount of head or tailwind in these flea powered craft can be a big problem. These things are so on the edge, that everything matters. Some barely have the HP to get up. No way you want to take off or land in a tailwind. Sometimes you have to turn around. Ideally you got the headwind, take off and fly to the destination in a tailwind, and if it is sustained you have to turn around again to land. If you fly into a headwind and don't take it into account, you might never reach the destination.
That can all be figured out, it gets even more complex when the wind is perpendicular to the path. You walk up to these things and you might (well not you) think they're big, but put them in the sky and they are small all the sudden.
Fuel is blood.
T
Termy, I know I teach that course - (when I cant avoid it) Its actually not that hard to do fuel management. its in the book (Approved handbook for the aircraft). If the aircraft has a fuel burn of 7.5 gph and you plan a 2 hour flight you need 15 gallons , if your alternate is 15 minutes from your promary you need 1.875 to get to it, and then another 5.625 gallons for 45 min reserve for a total of 22.5 gallon to get to your destination, the alternate, and 45 min thereafter. They arent as fragile as you think and the crosswind correction is a matter of two dots on the back of an E6B flight computer. Airspeeds, weight and balance, etc are every bit as important in an FA-18 or a 777 as it is in a Cessna 150. A 777, or even the space shuttle., flown at too high an angle of attack or below the stall speed will drop just like a J3 cub will. As for the "they are on the edge" thing - actually a small plane has less to worry about than a big one. With one engine you dont have "failure of the most critical engine" or assymetric thrust issues. Losing an engine during take off climb in any twin including a 737 is a real "Please pass the new underpants" moment whereas a single it is "land straight ahead"... Actually small planes are more forgiving and safer due to the lower stall speeds.
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