Flying_Monkey
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Soon I will be transitioning to a PA32-300 with four fuel tanks. 25 mains and 17 tips for a total of 84. I have read all about filling tips first and using mains first.(including the accident thread about Jeff Ks experience). Everyone says to use mains for takeoff and landing. But if Im burning mains first wouldnt I be on the tip tanks by landing time?
Im looking for real world advice in how you manage actually doing this if you are trying to NOT fill all tanks all the time. The instructions to fill tips first and burn mains first from the POH make it sounds like leaving the tips empty and just using the mains is a no-no. So, as an example, what if I only want to fill 48-50 gallons for a trip because Im carrying a lot of cargo or I just dont want to be flying around a bunch of extra fuel? Do you Always fill mains to tabs and takeoff and land with them but use tips once in cruise or 3k AGL? Do the tip tanks have tabs? How do you measure how much fuel you have in them? Are there dipsticks like I had for my 180 (I saw that eBay guy no longer sells them).
If anyone has a usual routine based on experience Id love some insight!
Im looking for real world advice in how you manage actually doing this if you are trying to NOT fill all tanks all the time. The instructions to fill tips first and burn mains first from the POH make it sounds like leaving the tips empty and just using the mains is a no-no. So, as an example, what if I only want to fill 48-50 gallons for a trip because Im carrying a lot of cargo or I just dont want to be flying around a bunch of extra fuel? Do you Always fill mains to tabs and takeoff and land with them but use tips once in cruise or 3k AGL? Do the tip tanks have tabs? How do you measure how much fuel you have in them? Are there dipsticks like I had for my 180 (I saw that eBay guy no longer sells them).
If anyone has a usual routine based on experience Id love some insight!
