We had a little drama at the airport on Saturday. I had just landed when I watched this whole thing play out.
I was on the taxiway listening to a Piper Cherokee making radio calls. Apparently he wanted to make an 'expedited' landing with an airsick passenger. This Piper was trying to break in somewhere on a non-standard right base instead of flying the pattern in. There was a steady stream of traffic landing on 35. He tried to get a Skywagon on final to break off and let him land. The Skywagon kept telling the Piper 'it ain't going to work for me'! The Piper jumped in front of the Skywagon anyway, cutting in front of him by no more than 300 ft. The Piper made a short right base, turned final over the fence and skittered far enough down the runway for the Skywagon to make a landing. The Skywagon just made it over the fence, rolled out a few hundred feet and turned off into the grass. The prop had stopped, the door popped open and I thought 'this is it, the Piper driver's gonna catch it now'. I put my plane in the hanger and made my way back to see what happened.
It turns out that the reason why the Skywagon wasn't going to break off and let this Piper in is because he was out of fuel. The engine was sputtering and quit just as he crossed the fence. About fifteen minutes later Wagon Driver finished topping off the tanks when it all became quite clear. The 'Wagon Driver had calculated 58-1/2 useable based on the book but somehow that had changed. He just filled both tanks and couldn't get them to take anymore than 52 gal. Apparently, when he changed the tank bladders several years ago, they must not have stretched out to the full volume of the tank. Now the question: How many times was he on fumes and never knew it. The six gallons he didn't have was the legal minimum that should have been in the tank!

Sounds like neither wanted to declare an emergency, but what it they both had?

Gliders have right of way.

A bit of puke in the plane is a pain, but no emergency. Although most of us would give a courtesy "right of way" to a sick passanger he should have never cut off the Skywagon...low fuel or not, if the Cherokee cut off another aircraft on final then he was "dangerous & reckless" and could be in in some trouble if an accident happened.

Two lessons. Calibrate your fuel tanks and carry a plastic bag in case of a sick passenger.

No kidden, most times a slow smooth approach will do more to help a sick passenger than a rushed freaked out pilot .... glad no body was hurt.

I always show my passengers where the plastic bags are. I tell them, you barf on my plane you will clean it, and I mean it.

I drive right next to semi trucks and we pass each other head on all the time. Closing speeds up to 150MPH. Sometimes I am on a motorcycle and we are 2-3 feet apart. Talk about dead is one of us makes a blunder. I guess that is why we have so many more vehicle accidents.

Jeesh I wonder why big brother lets that happen, sounds kind of dangerous?

Even if he thought he had 58 gal he would have had less than 30 minutes of fuel.

It is not uncommon for the clips that hold the tops of the bladder tanks in place against the wing to come undone if not properly attached. If this happens, the bladders won't hold the full rated capacity of the tanks.

They were both very fortunate that nothing bad happened, but I echo the notion that cutting someone off in the pattern cause you've got an airsick passenger is NOT legal, nor is it smart. Nor does it constitute an emergency.

MTV

mtv wrote: Nor does it constitute an emergency.

I'm sure if the Man comes knocking, the "sickness" is going to suddenly become a whole lot more acute in the story. Of course, not having declared an emergency, it doesn't matter what the story is.

Regardless, dumb.

mtv wrote:It is not uncommon for the clips that hold the tops of the bladder tanks in place against the wing to come undone if not properly attached. If this happens, the bladders won't hold the full rated capacity of the tanks.

MTV

When I made the unscheduled stop on I-80 in Nevada I had a clip problem. The mechanic in Provience, RI did not see any reason to even install the outboard rear clip on my 182. In a 50 yearl old plane with 4K hours on the airframe, those steel clips have been vibrating arround in those aluminum holes for a while. The aluminum gets a bit oversized and the clips can come loose.

Now I drain the fuel twice a year and measure it back in. My old 182B is really noisey inside but I hate the sound of silence followed by the sound of the seat cushen being sucked inside my cloaca.

Tim

I know your spellin sucks, but what da f&*k cloaca? That spanish for anal cavity?

here is a photo and story. http://news.softpedia.com/news/How-to-C ... 7311.shtml

Is this Hot Air at its best.

Tim

Holey crap,(no pun intended), where do you find this stuff

I should have never douted ya.

My favorite http://courses.washington.edu/vertebra/ ... cloaca.jpg

Tim

Was he ridin withya on I-80.

The researchers sealed the birds' cloacae with glue.

Gawd, that had to suck. Where are the animal rights nuts? Don't all creatures have the right to take a dump?

Flynengr

tcj wrote:Two lessons. Calibrate your fuel tanks and carry a plastic bag in case of a sick passenger.

Got my sick bags in the plane. But plan to calibrate my tanks this annual. Been meaning to put new sump drains in since I bought them last fall. So may as well drain the tanks and see exactly how much fuel they actually hold.

here is a photo and story. http://news.softpedia.com/news/How-to-C ... 7311.shtml

Is this Hot Air at its best.

Tim

Soooo.....thats why i have such bad swamp a$$.

Well, Tim, you just admitted that you're either a reptile or a bird.....they're the onliest ones with a cloaca.

So, our previous suspicions are confirmed.

Goofy Quartergaskets...

MTV

For MTV

Tim