Simviation Forums

Has anybody got any idea how?? I had a really quick checkout on one yesterday, and the instructor said just look at the gauge as its more reliable (its a single tank and you can't see anything when you look in). But in retrospect that doesnt seem very sensible, should I be using a dip stick or something or is this just normal practice??? Flying again tommorrow morning and its concerning me!

First civvie flight in nearly a year, I had forgotten how cowboyish it can be!!

You should use one of those hollow tubes that you stick into the tank, put your finger over the top hole and pull it out. You'll need one that's calibrated to the Robin, but that's the easiest way. I've had too many faulty fuel gauges to trust them.

Ha exactly, i don't trust the wings on this thing let alone the gauges! I'll have a word with them tommorrow then and moan! Thankyou for clearing that up buddy, glad to hear I wasnt being stupid 

Just make sure to hold on to the stick very well.  My second flight lesson I let it slip into the tank of the 150 we had.

[quote]Just make sure to hold on to the stick very well.

The only fuel-quantity indicator I trust, other than actually looking in the tank or using a calibrated stick, is a bobber and needle, as in the Champ, Cub, Ercoupe, etc. But even those can fail (bobber leaks or gets so old it won't float, needle sticks), so yes, a fuel stick of some kind is best.
Anything will do, once it's calibrated- the Champ I flew in Ca. came equipped with a wooden stick with a line on it to show when the little 13-gallon nose tank was full. The bobber-type fuel gauge on that plane was pretty accurate, but being too fancy compared to the old-style cork'n'wire (a drum gauge behind glass mounted on the glareshield), was very hard to read and flopped all over the place when the engine was running. 

BTW: when "sticking" the tanks, make sure the airplane is on a level surface... 

[quote]The only fuel-quantity indicator I trust, other than actually looking in the tank or using a calibrated stick, is a bobber and needle, as in the Champ, Cub, Ercoupe, etc. But even those can fail (bobber leaks or gets so old it won't float, needle sticks), so yes, a fuel stick of some kind is best.
Anything will do, once it's calibrated- the Champ I flew in Ca. came equipped with a wooden stick with a line on it to show when the little 13-gallon nose tank was full. The bobber-type fuel gauge on that plane was pretty accurate, but being too fancy compared to the old-style cork'n'wire (a drum gauge behind glass mounted on the glareshield), was very hard to read and flopped all over the place when the engine was running.