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How Low Do You Go?


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Oh and another thing, anyone ever check their fuel quantity while doing stuck pedals on a 500, the 200 lbs you started with before jamming the pedal will now indicate ~100, the indicator is on the same side as the pump,,,hmmmm.

 

35 lbs of fuel in 500 is something like 1.25 inches of fuel covering the bottom of suction.

 

sc

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A word of caution when using your watch for fuel burned. Unless you have put the fuel into a dry tank using a meter you still have to trust the gauge for the intitial capacity or can visually tell the quantity or(sounds like am rowing a boat) fill the tank full. I know of an astar that the light came on at 27%(supposed to be ~11-12%) but the guy(s) flying off the base assumed it wrong, it was indeed not wrong, the only thing that saved them was they landed heavy on fuel all the time. Ah, does this contradict my previous posts? Well sort of but the key with the system is that is checked periodically to be accurate. Some of the senders in the company had been in the aircraft since new (18 years) and had known problems. If your gauge is off, fix it. period.

 

The amount of times people check the fuel gauge for accuracy is listed in the inspection sheets for the aircraft. I believe is a least an annual check, why not now if your machine is inside and is slow. I have always marked the plastic tank of Astar with known quantities so afterward it is a simple check to remove the cover and SEE the quantity agrees with the gauge. Doesn't mean the gauge won't stick but can have assurance that it is reading correctly. Capacitance sytems are gloriously accurate on these aircraft, no more worn pins or float tubes on senders. If you have a capacitance system on ANY type of aircraft and suddenly reads erroniously, land and check for contamination, water has different capacitance than fuel and will cause the gauge to go all wonky.

 

Can tell if you have float system in astar by the gauge, the little picture

in gauge will look like there is a float in the fuel system, cannot remember what the exact picture is on the gauge of capacitance system but will not be of a float.

 

Astar gauge should also read "0" when tank is empty and read full when tank is full, other readings will not be accurate if not.

 

sc

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:) some great advice S.C. Also capacitance systems over time such as a 212 will start to deteriorate due to corrsion that can build within the sender. Scheduled maintenence, or better yet more frequent inspections of the indicating systems, are required when operating in extreme environments such as fluctuating temps and salt air environments ;)
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Bell 206, I shoot for fuel at 20 -25 but will take it down to the high teens if it is not too turbulent and would park it at 15. That being said, where is our 20 minute reserve? I once hopped in a machine, turned on the battery and saw 7 gallons indicated. (shock) Who does that?

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My limit is 15% on all except if I'm instructed otherwise by the Ops Manual or company. If it's a Medium, I want to see and know where the "low fuel" warning lite comes on and it better not be lower than 15% or then I use MY percentage and check with maintenance on what they set it at. On no occsion do I rely on any fuel guage. The cost to Bell at the factory for a 04/05 fuel guage was $6.50......and my *** is worth more than that....even if it's "old". Therefore, it's the "low fuel" lite and my watch.

 

It's all just numbers that we all spout or is some figure in an Ops /Flight Manual. The best way to get a full apreciation of how small the given amount is, take a look at what that amount looks like in your given tank when the tank is drained and re-filled to that amount stated as minimum. Do that once on a Jetbox and thereafter all your turns will be "flat" when coming in for the refill because you'll know then how close you are to exposing that top pump and having another more urgent problem than reaching that re-fuelling hose. That 15% mentioned was the figure used in the military and also the company minimums at Okanagan Helicopters. Once stated by Don Jacques, their CP, in my presence...."anyone can make a miscalculation in their fuel load or fuel burn and in which case, put her down and I'll deliver the 'lumps' if needed. Run out of fuel in the air and/or damage the a/c as a result and just advise us where to send your last paycheque". I agree with that statement completely. Bottom line: you do as you're told to do by the folks that own the a/c, but also have a look yourself at how small an amount that is......otherwise it's all just numbers on paper.

 

HeliLog ------great post bud. My complements. :D

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CAP agree on most of your points although some of these aircraft the low fuel light is NOT redundant. In other words if the float is stuck on 500 or Astar the low light will not come on(why it is just stupid to me). We had a 500 come in after doing autos and put in 5 litres short of total capacity when the gauge was reading just under 100 lbs, the float had got stuck on a baffle that had come loose. As well as I mentioned earlier unless you are starting with a bone dry tank and put in an measured quantity then you still are relying on the gauge to tell the total amount in the tank at refuelling. Eg; if you put in two drums into your tank you know at least that much for sure, but say you had half a tank in the machine already(at least that is what the gauge says) there is a chance that 6.50 gauge is wrong and you could end up short. No real cure other than if you have an aircraft such as a bell medium that has a seperate low warning system and the light comes on land. Regardless as you wisely mentioned if the light is on trust it. Rethink on the ground.

 

 

IMHO;

Very hard to use only a watch on some of these machines doing some of the work being done, Astar fuel burn rate changes dramatically depending on workload, three hours on B2 with low torque settings and landing with 20% is not uncommon. 2.6 hours in full max cruise and landing with 20% as well. Have to use combination fuel in, gauge reading and watch and monitoring that gauge is going down at all times. As many are aware of the change between the high sender and low sender on jetranger there can be a bit of dissagreement as well. Ever notice how you are seemingly just sipping the fuel while around 35 gal then at around 30 she seems to get much thirstier, is just the area 35-45 gals is where the low and high overlapp and can cause a bit of misreading.

 

Nacreous, the 20 minute reserve is a legal requirement, where YOU put that reserve is up to you the pic. For instance if the weather is poor and you think that there is a chance you will eat up the reserve you better put it in the the tank above your own limit. But if you are flying in good weather and know the machine and fuel location then go ahead and burn down to you own limit(20-25 gal) knowing that legally there is 20 minute(actually at 20 gal you have close to 40 minutes usable) fuel in your tank. So 7 gal in tank would be around 12-15 minutes before it got quiet. I have NEVER flown a 206 that low and would not but have got in a few as you have to have a sh#t fit after seeing the gauge. Illegal no, breaking company policy, probably.

sc

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Longranger - 200 lbs (because of the dirt in the filter/boost pump failure scenario)

 

I NEVER use the light (havent seen it since my first year flying)

I can think of at least one pilot who used to though! A 500 driver who died horribly because of a a bad habit and a burnt out caution light.

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