Sport Pilot Talk

foresterpoole wrote:My personal policy: top the tanks off every time as long as weight and balance allow (which is always since I fly with my wife and my 4 year old at the most. Never trust the fuel gauges, stick the tanks! IPads are wonderful, but their GPS can be 20 feet plus off and can have erratic readings. Better to use them as a supplement to instruments, not a primary flight instrument.

A true fact. In the Army, we were taught the position was accurate to 20 meters! (close enough for a 155mm round). On a recent trail run, known to be 10 km, my wife's wrist Garmin logged 5.4 miles - 0.8 miles short! On short final and roundout, where inches count, very unreliable.

foresterpoole wrote:My personal policy: top the tanks off every time as long as weight and balance allow (which is always since I fly with my wife and my 4 year old at the most. Never trust the fuel gauges, stick the tanks! IPads are wonderful, but their GPS can be 20 feet plus off and can have erratic readings. Better to use them as a supplement to instruments, not a primary flight instrument.

The trick is to pair your tablet with an external gps of much greater accuracy... of course , while I prefer my iPad running Garmin Pilot , I still like to have 796 as my “wired” backup.

While this is a sad outcome, it is very predictable. I recommend everyone read this entire thread in chronological order. It is a good lesson for all pilots. It reminds me of some of the videos we used to see at the AOPA Flight Instructor Refresher Course.

I remember one where a guy runs out of fuel and lands a C150 on a street. He and his passenger get out and go get a large can of fuel. They pour the fuel in and both climb back in the C150 and attempt a takeoff on the short street with trees and wires across the end. You can guess what happened next.

I think in this case the thread should be locked ( is there anything more to add here ? ) but definitely kept for posterity.

Rethought my earlier position and I agree 100% - lock the thread but keep for posterity and educational use. I hope to never serve as an example of what not to do.

I’m curious. Did he ever file a lawsuit against Flight Design for his mistake like he said he was going to do?

comperini wrote:I’m curious. Did he ever file a lawsuit against Flight Design for his mistake like he said he was going to do?

Yes, but it was dismissed.

http://ctflier.com/topic/2803-lawsuit-is-over/

Thanks to all if you for your thoughtful posts. I'm going to keep this thead open for a few more days, to see of anyone has anything new and relevant to add. If not, then lacking any serious objections, I will lock it but preserve it for posterity.

When you do close this thread, please link to this thread in the final, closing post:

http://sportpilottalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4995

By general consensus, I am now locking this thread, which will prevent further posts - but leaving it up for historical purposes. For those wishing to engage in further discussion about the original poster (who, sadly, was lost in a recent fatal accident), I direct you to this new thread:

http://sportpilottalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4995

RIP, USSYorktown.