hotrod180 wrote:

Zzz wrote:Make a dipstick from 3/8" or 1/2" dowel from the lumber store. Don't coat it with anything, you want the fuel to show up well when the wood gets wet. I don't like the acrylic pipettes anymore because they sink if you fumble it. Wood floats and you can prob fish it out.

Stirring sticks from the paint store.
Free & easy to hang onto.

whee wrote:

CamTom12 wrote:I've run each of my tanks dry a few times (with plenty in the other wing!) just to see what my wing-root sight gauges read when the engine stops. Then I switch tanks and land to fill up.

That would be a good method of ensuring you get all but usable out of one wing at a time to calibrate a fuel stick. Can't screw up a cruise attitude in a taildragger if it's flying at cruise.

I do the same. Removes the question of useable completely.

I’ve never seen a need for a dip stick but I can see why Cessna guys would be familiar with them.

In the Luscombe I could eyeball 1/2, 3/4 tank. Both tanks at 1/2 was my personal minimum. The BH has sight gauges in the root. I marked 1/2 tank when on the ground and minimum takeoff.

If I were going to make a stick I would run a tank empty while in cruise and mark the stick as I filled the tank. Just don’t run both tanks dry on the same flight.