Buying small amounts of gas from the fbo

Jim K

Jim K

Final Approach
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Richard Digits
I find myself conflicted when I make a $200 hamburger run. I'll often land having burned less than 10 gallons of fuel, and while I want to buy some fuel to support the fbo, it seems like more trouble than it's worth for them. On the other hand the line guy is getting paid and the truck is sitting there depreciating either way, so maybe they're happy to pump 6 gallons and pocket what..$5-6?

On the third hand.... the fbo at DEC charges a ramp fee just to walk through their building, which you have to do to get to the restaurant. Of course waived if you buy 10gal....consequently I haven't eaten there. Seems like the airport manager could work something out. I suppose the ratio of pilots to locals who eat there is probably 1:1000 so it doesn't matter to them.
 
I always buy gas even if it’s 10 gallons when I make hamburger runs. It’s job security for the fueler whether you put 5, 10, or 100 gallons in the plane. He still has to be employed to pump it. I always tip $5 as well. Some may think that is overkill, but growing up on the ramp, I always appreciated a tip.


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My little experimental don't hold much but it don't burn much either. I do like trying to support the local FBO guys. Most all that I have met have been really great folks ...
 
In a lot of rural places people come buy on Fridays with gas cans in order to get fuel to are with.
 
Rgbeard said:
You need a larger aircraft, that burns more fuel.

SOLVED.

You can thank me later.
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With the club archer I knew I had to top off with $5.50 gas back at cmi, so fuel at the lunch stop made sense, even if only a few gallons.

Now that i have the lance, I can buy $3 self serve from an airport 20mi away at my discretion; the damn thing holds 6 hours of fuel, so the problem is worse now lol.
 
Ask them to add the fuel, but leave the time up to them. At some point during the day, they'll go through and fuel several aircraft at once.

Or, if the fueler if bored, they'll just come fill you now. I presume at your home FBO, they have your credit card on file?
 
I look at it from a selfish safety standpoint - if I don’t need fuel for extra reserves (I am almost always full fuel from home departure), then I don’t tempt fate by getting unknown fuel from an unknown truck from an unknown line guy. Too much stuff to go wrong for me to be polite over $20. But like I said, I like to be full, but for a 1 hour flight out & back? Nah.
 
I wouldn’t feel obligated to buy fuel if you really don’t need any, just help out the line guy. In reality, the FBO’s don’t profit much from us little guys. They’re making their coin from the jets, turboprops and those who are buying large quantities of fuel and taking advantage of their other amenities. Buying a few gallons for a single-engine piston doesn’t make much of a dent in their monthly revenue.
 
bflynn said:
Ask them to add the fuel, but leave the time up to them. At some point during the day, they'll go through and fuel several aircraft at once.

Or, if the fueler if bored, they'll just come fill you now. I presume at your home FBO, they have your credit card on file?
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They do, but i don't buy a lot of gas there any more due to the reasons in my post above. I do occasionally fill up so they remember who I am when I bring my wife in to use the bathroom, or if I'm going some distance and the plane isn't full. It is convenient having the truck come right to my hangar, but that extra $2 a gallon adds up fast.
 
Jim K said:
On the third hand.... the fbo at DEC charges a ramp fee just to walk through their building, which you have to do to get to the restaurant. Of course waived if you buy 10gal....consequently I haven't eaten there. Seems like the airport manager could work something out.
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Some places pro-rate the ramp fee. If the fee is $10 waived with 10 gal purchase but you only bought 6gal then the ramp fee is pro-rated to $4. That's definitely something you should work out and make clear beforehand, though.
 
Jim K said:
I find myself conflicted when I make a $200 hamburger run. I'll often land having burned less than 10 gallons of fuel, and while I want to buy some fuel to support the fbo, it seems like more trouble than it's worth for them. On the other hand the line guy is getting paid and the truck is sitting there depreciating either way, so maybe they're happy to pump 6 gallons and pocket what..$5-6?
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Fly further.

Jim K said:
On the third hand.... the fbo at DEC charges a ramp fee just to walk through their building, which you have to do to get to the restaurant. Of course waived if you buy 10gal....consequently I haven't eaten there. Seems like the airport manager could work something out. I suppose the ratio of pilots to locals who eat there is probably 1:1000 so it doesn't matter to them.
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Climb the fence.....

(ok, kidding on that one...:lol:)
 
I ran out of fuel in my little kerosene heater in the hangar this week.

One call, 6 gallons, warm again. :D

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Jim K said:
I find myself conflicted when I make a $200 hamburger run. I'll often land having burned less than 10 gallons of fuel, and while I want to buy some fuel to support the fbo, it seems like more trouble than it's worth for them. On the other hand the line guy is getting paid and the truck is sitting there depreciating either way, so maybe they're happy to pump 6 gallons and pocket what..$5-6?

On the third hand.... the fbo at DEC charges a ramp fee just to walk through their building, which you have to do to get to the restaurant. Of course waived if you buy 10gal....consequently I haven't eaten there. Seems like the airport manager could work something out. I suppose the ratio of pilots to locals who eat there is probably 1:1000 so it doesn't matter to them.
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Upgrade to an Aztec. You won't have that problem any more. I guarantee it. :D

Seriously, I have the same feeling when I call up the truck for the Husky. My trips in it tend to be short and it doesn't burn much, so I feel guilty calling them over and having to tell them I just need to top up the Dawg.
 
I try to buy fuel at every stop, sometimes I can’t hold it due to weight, but 90% of the time I buy some gas. I also seldom top off the 182 or the Conquest. When I learned to fly, we always kept the 182 full, but that was in the 80’s, once I started flying twins, I figured out that I hardly ever need full tanks.
 
Most of the GA guys at my airport fly to one a few miles away for gas. It’s really quite funny on a nice day to have several airplanes in line for departure all headed to a different airport for cheaper gas.
 
Grum.Man said:
Most of the GA guys at my airport fly to one a few miles away for gas. It’s really quite funny on a nice day to have several airplanes in line for departure all headed to a different airport for cheaper gas.
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Where I’m about to be based is $2/gal more expensive than an airport 6NM away. It’s almost SOP for everyone to fuel up there on the way back.
 
I buy gas if it's convenient for me. I rent, my home base charges about 7 bucks a gallon. If I'm somewhere and it's convenient I'll buy enough gas so the tanks are at tabs when I'm done flying, which is how the planes are rented typically if the price is below $6. I figure it costs me nothing and makes the place I rent from more profitable, win/win.
 
Most everywhere I go is self service and no FBO fees, but it was amusing on the rare occasions I flew my Fisher 404 into a larger airport... it burned 2 GPH and the tank only held 7 gallons...
 
I try to buy fuel every time I laNd. I fly a plane that burns 20GPH so it isn't hard to find room for it.

I like the idea of spending the money at both big and small places. The fuel sales keep many places afloat...
 
Timbeck2 said:
Those things burn diesel too - cheaper than Jet A or Kerosene
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I cannot call Arco to bring me diesel, though. Plus no slimy fuel can sloshing in my interior and a week of oily stench in the car. Money wellll spent, even if I annoy the line guys all winter.

That they came at all is my favorite discovery at the airport. :D
 
What is a small amount of gas.??

I was jump seating on a DC-6 once and they only took 800 gallons of gas.

Glad to not have that fuel bill...
 
Zeldman said:
What is a small amount of gas.??

I was jump seating on a DC-6 once and they only took 800 gallons of gas.

Glad to not have that fuel bill...
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I always feel awkward asking for 10 gallons or less. At bigger fbo's I've asked for 15 and they act like I'm putting them out. At other places I've told them to top it off, and it's only been 5 or 6 gallons, and they treat me like I bought 70, so I can't figure it out.

I watched a YouTube video... might have been guthmiller... where they were ferrying a dc3 for the big flyover in England/ France. They had multiple fuel trucks trying to fill the thing as the pumps were all sized for little planes and for only were moving a few gpm each.
 
Back a couple of decades ago before the last bunches of buyouts, the manager of the Hawthorne FBO at IAD had a simple philosophy. Treat everybody well. You never know if the guy who shows up on Saturday in his Bonanza is going to be the guy in the flying (or in the back) of the bizjet that comes in on Monday.
 
Jim K said:
I always feel awkward asking for 10 gallons or less. At bigger fbo's I've asked for 15 and they act like I'm putting them out. At other places I've told them to top it off, and it's only been 5 or 6 gallons, and they treat me like I bought 70, so I can't figure it out.

I watched a YouTube video... might have been guthmiller... where they were ferrying a dc3 for the big flyover in England/ France. They had multiple fuel trucks trying to fill the thing as the pumps were all sized for little planes and for only were moving a few gpm each.
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Customer service! Some understand and train staff for that, and some never figure it out.

Zeldman said:
What is a small amount of gas.??

I was jump seating on a DC-6 once and they only took 800 gallons of gas.

Glad to not have that fuel bill...
Click to expand...

A few years ago I was at an airshow where a B52 from Barksdale was flown in and parked on the static line. After show close on Sunday we were sitting around on lawn chairs on the grass by our airplanes watching the jet fuel tankers from the Shell FBO shuttling back and forth to the Buff. One of the pilots wandered over and started chatting with the crew chief. Said he had an Uncle Sam credit card with high limit to pay for it.
 
“A lot” is a very relative term... flying out west as part of an aero-gang we all helped each other fuel to keep the pace up. I had mine topped off and one of the guys went to move the ladder for me. I told him I was good. He says” don’t you want to fill up? You only have 15 gallons” I said “I know we just flew for 3 hours” lol. My c140 and the super cub always brought up the rear- but everyone envied me at pump time
 
Some years ago after my Dad had passed away, my Mom broke her hip. It was about an 80 nM flight through the DFW Bravo when they would let me. Probably 100nM when I had to go around. Since I topped off my 140 tanks to the brim and they didn’t, I would end up buying 3 gallons from them most times.

I was back and forth there weekly for several years taking care of her. I parked her car at their FBO and they watched it for me. They always asked how she was doing and I even took her there to meet them.

Generally speaking my experience has been that in aviation that’s how most people are.
 
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