New Video - CiES Operation

Beech Baron CiES Magnetic Fuel Level Sender Retrofit - Part 2

Beech Baron 58 Fuel Level Senders

We received a another set of Beech Baron fuel level senders today.  In the coming days we will quantify the major characteristics of these senders like the arm length and position so that we can make new CiES Digital Magnetic Field Senders.  This set presents a challenge as we need to combine three senders into 1 output.   

These three inputs will accurately read the volume in the Beech 58 Baron fuel tanks   

Stay tuned for further updates and pictures.

Fuel Exhaustion - Are We Set Up To Fail

Our expectations are so low for aircraft fuel level gauging systems, They are hardly ever relied on.

In fact when we educate new pilots this is typically what is said.

• The first one is taken from the AIM

FUEL REMAINING—A phrase used by either pilots or controllers when relating to the fuel remaining on board until actual fuel exhaustion. When transmitting such information in response to either a controller question or pilot initiated cautionary advisory to air traffic control, pilots will state the APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF MINUTES the flight can continue with the fuel remaining.

All reserve fuel SHOULD BE INCLUDED in the time stated, as should an allowance for established fuel gauge system error.

• The second one from the Irish Aviation Authority

Aircraft fuel gauges can be notoriously inaccurate so it more reliable to “dip” the tanks to establish how much fuel is onboard. However, make sure that your dipstick is calibrated to suit your aircraft type, the aircraft is parked on level ground and the fuel level has been allowed to stabilise before you dip.

• The final one from AOPA  Flight Training Magazine

Use the clock - not the fuel quantity indicators on the panel - as your fuel gauge. In other words, plan and track your fuel consumption based on endurance, not range. Unlike range, endurance is not at the mercy of winds. Besides, those fuel gauge indicators probably won't be very accurate except when they read empty - a setting you should never see. 

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In fact the pilot mantra given to prevent Fuel Starvation and Exhaustion is  "PREFLIGHT, PREFLIGHT, PREFLIGHT  

So what do we normally look for in a PREFLIGHT inspection - tires, brakes, oil level, security of the flight controls, condition of the prop, security of the fuel caps.   Basically all the stuff you can't check in flight.

The implication here is - you have only one chance per flight to check your fuel level - & that one chance is at your PREFLIGHT inspection.  - If you avoid that critical step, you are flying on borrowed time buddy.

Here is the rub  - you are supposed to be able to monitor your fuel level throughout your time in the air.

Another Pilot Mantra could just as easily be be "INFLIGHT, INFLIGHT, INFLIGHT.  That INFLIGHT scenario would be the pilot comparing anticipated fuel level, to actual indicated fuel level.  This would be the pilot vigilance stuff, you know the cross checks of fuel remaining from the calculations to what is onboard.  

Fuel Gauges are required instruments and found on all powered aircraft - So yes the FAA actually expected them to work.  ---  I bet you are surprised.

You are, by design, supposed to be able to see how much fuel you have at any time while you are in the air.   It is the law, it really is, and it really is a good idea.

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In 1974 (yes that long ago) the NTSB initiated a study on Fuel Starvation,  in this study,  they found that there were some aircraft that rarely had a fuel starvation event,  and they also found some aircraft that were prone to the issue - Most aircraft as you might guess were average in this regard.

SO what this study pointed out, it didn't really come right out and say it,  but it was pretty clear that fuel exhaustion wasn't just a pilot thing  - 

If it were, pilots being human - some good, some bad & most of them average would equally suffer fuel starvation in any aircraft.  It would not matter which aircraft you flew.

An average pilot in an average aircraft might have a fuel starvation event - but not really that likely.

An average pilot might never experience a fuel starvation in "X" model aircraft, but that same pilot might be assured of a high probability of fuel starvation if he flew "Y" model aircraft 

As General Aviation is slow to change - some of those aircraft are still in production.  In fact some of those aircraft in the study are still flying.

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So what did the Aircraft Manufacturers recommend in the 1974 Report:

• Two manufacturers recommended a separate Low Fuel warning system. 

• One manufacturer recommended that a more accurate and reliable fuel level system be developed. 

• One manufacturer believed that a "one tank system" would be beneficial.

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So what did the NTSB recommend in the 1974 Report:

• Specification for a low fuel level warning that would operate independently of the existing fuel gauging system.

• Specification for a more accurate type fuel quantity gauging system. 

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That was 40 years ago - so 

Where Are We Now! 

I am guessing from the picture,  that we are still on the road to find a solution.

PA28 Lands on a Road

A 1968 Piper PA-28R-180 Cherokee single-engine aircraft with four persons on board made an emergency landing on southbound Interstate I-15 between Escondido, Calif., and El Norte Parkway on Sunday evening, July 22, 2012 at 11:25 p.m. PDT according to reports published on Monday, July 23 by KGTV 10News San Diego, the Los Angeles Times, the Kathryn's Report, the North County Times, and other media.

The pilot, 48-year-old Ken Gheysar of Orange, Calif., was en route from Mammoth Yosemite Airport (MMH) to McClellan-Palomar Airport (CLD) in Carlsbad, Calif., but ran out of fuel and decided to put down on the freeway.

According to CHP officer Jim Bettencourt, "Since traffic was light at that hour he was able to land safely and make it to the right shoulder of the freeway just north of El Norte Road."

The plane landed safely and was undamaged, until the tip of the left wing was clipped by 74-year-old Milton Loy of Poway, who was driving a 1995 Dodge Dakota, causing minor damage to the aircraft and pickup truck.

Joel Siegfried

Airport Examiner

NO NTSB Action

Fuel Exhaustion - Another PA28 Finds a Road

Plane makes emergency landing on Watterson

Posted: Oct 07, 2010 8:22 PM PDTUpdated: Oct 08, 2010 8:08 AM PDT

 

 

 

By Marisela Burgos - bio | email
Posted by Charles Gazaway - email 

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - Early Friday morning, emergency crews remained on the scene of a small plane that made an emergency landing on the Watterson Expressway near Taylorsville Road.

The plane, a Piper PA-28, landed in the westbound lanes of the Watterson just west of the Taylorsville Road ramp shortly after 11 p.m. Thursday. Four people were reported to be onboard, but no injuries were reported.

The aircraft came to a stop on the grassy shoulder of the interstate off the driving lane. Traffic on westbound Watterson was flowing using the outside lanes.

According the FAA website, the registered owner of the plane is Benjamin Price of Fisherville, KY. It is not known if Price was onboard the aircraft at the time of the emergency landing.

Kathleen Bergan, communications manager of the FAA Southern region, said initial reports indicate Bowman Field was the plane's intended destination. Bergan said the FAA is investigating and the National Transportation Safety Board has notified of the crash.

NTSB Report 

The pilot stated that he estimated the airplane's fuel supply during his preflight planning by calculating the fuel consumed during the two previous flights. The pilot departed for his destination and planned to land with 45 minutes of fuel reserve. During the flight, the airplane encountered wind stronger than forecast and the airplane consumed more fuel than he had estimated. On descent for landing, the airplane experienced a total loss of engine power and the pilot attempted to glide to the runway. As the airplane's airspeed and altitude decreased, the pilot opted to land on the freeway below. The airplane touched down in the middle lanes, skidded along the pavement, and came to rest in a ditch. During the accident sequence the airplane incurred damage to the right wing and horizontal stabilizer. Post-accident examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that both tanks were absent of fuel and that there was no evidence of a preimpact mechanical anomaly.

Aviation Consumer - July Issue

CIES Fuel Level System in the News

" Gone are the mechanical fuel quantity gauges that used to live next to the fuel selector between the two seats. 

Instead, new fuel-level senders with electronic fuel quantity data is displayed on-screen, providing far more precision than most mechanical fuel gauges. 

The system helps keep fuel balanced between the left and right tank, periodically reminding the pilot to switch tanks with onscreen CAS alert messaging and warnings"                            


Aviation Consumer July 2013 

We like the reference to far more precision - that's the CiES byword