mtv wrote:Hey,

Ramp rats have no exclusive on that sort of thing. I once fueled a Husky on floats from a five gallon can I had stashed at a lake. The fuel caps didn't have a chain to attach, so I always put the cap in the pocket of my flight suit while fueling.

My passenger asked me something about the time I finished pouring the gas in, and I handed him the gas can.

Took off, and, just like Gump, I turned around after a minute and looked back to see a mist coming off the left wing.......Landed and put the cap on, and hadn't lost much gas so went home.

It can happen to anyone, fueler or pilot

Yes it can.

Just fueled up in BOI this last weekend. Preflighted. Dipped the tanks. Low on gas. Dragged it over to the FBO, they filled it up. I watched them do it. At least the truck was avgas.

I get back from my flight. I put it away only to find the gas cap missing.

Hmph... line guy left cap off and I didn't catch it because my pre-flight was before the fuel truck.

Mistake noted.

No notable gas missing though... Not much siphons in the pattern while in a 172.

I have a couple rules. Tow bars never remain attached to plane unless my hand is on it (except in hangar). Even if I just go to release the brakes, I disconnect it.

I never leave the top of the ladder with a gas cap undone, even if I just need to reset the fuel pump.

I still got bitten though.

Speaking of sumping your tanks

By the end of one of my friend's first season flying an AT-301, he noticed it would start running rough when pulling out of the field and in tight turns. After leveling out it would run ok, so he'd forget about it and never looked into it. During the annual, he found a fuel sump he never knew was there, drained a pint of muddy water out

I have a buddy here on the site who had a super cub type machine. He left the caps off after filling and took off and flew like 50 mile to meet me. At 80 mph the darn thing wouldn't siphon. Still had all the fuel except for what he had burned. So he flew back to the little almost deserted airport, found his caps on the runway, stuck them back on and all was well.

I happen to know that leaving one cap off on a citabria will result in about 30 gallons siphoning out in an hrs flight...

I've gotten to the point that I always fuel my own plane, every time. My standard comment to the rampers is "this way I'll be the one responsible for running it over onto the wing, instead of you." I've never had one tell me no yet. Not that I'm foolproof myself, but I've got a lot more at stake than the underpaid ramper fueling his umpteenth different plane for the day.

RanchPilot wrote:I've gotten to the point that I always fuel my own plane, every time. My standard comment to the rampers is "this way I'll be the one responsible for running it over onto the wing, instead of you." I've never had one tell me no yet. Not that I'm foolproof myself, but I've got a lot more at stake than the underpaid ramper fueling his umpteenth different plane for the day.

So true! This is also why I like to be around/do most stuff on my plane with the mechanic. I have a vested interest that he doesn't!

RanchPilot wrote:I've gotten to the point that I always fuel my own plane, every time. My standard comment to the rampers is "this way I'll be the one responsible for running it over onto the wing, instead of you." I've never had one tell me no yet. Not that I'm foolproof myself, but I've got a lot more at stake than the underpaid ramper fueling his umpteenth different plane for the day.

Also after you fuel your airplane, put everything away, get back up and check it.