How many time have you run out of gas?

Never (or even came close) in an airplane. My partner cut it too close for comfort one time when he was flying and I was in the right seat.
In vehicles? a number of times. Years ago I twice borrowed an old pickup with a broken fuel gauge from a coworker. Both times he said "don't worry about he gas - it has plenty". You guessed it - both times it ran out. One of those times I had enough momentum to roll down a freeway offramp and right into a gas station. I've had a few run-ins with high fuel consumption, too. Once while pulling a big trailer I realized I was low and got off I5 in CA in the middle of nowhere. Drove for many more miles in the dark before finding a gas station - but made it. Another time I ran out in a vehicle very familiar to me - but having an unusually big load that time. Came to rest just before an uphill offramp (again on I5). Walked up it and lo and behold, there was a gas station nearby (couldn't see it from the freeway). Had to buy a gas can from them, but problem solved!
My wife has a habit of running the tank very low. Once she was driving while I dozed. I awoke to note that we were nearly empty. Got off the freeway and drove many miles on secondary roads to the next little town (in rural PA). It was Sunday, of course. First gas station was closed. Fortunately, the second one was open. The car had a DTE readout - that said Zero when we pulled in.

Dave
 
Once. On a motorcycle. I was used to my old Honda 90 which had 1 gallon on main and .45 gallons in reserve when I got my Honda 175. Ran out on the main coming out of Moscow, Idaho and switched to reserve, figuring I had plenty of gas to get to Pullman. Ran out about 100 yards short of the gas station I was headed to. Never did that again.

In an airplane? Not even close. Start out with full tanks and the plane has far more endurance than I do.
 
cessna182b said:
Never (or even came close) in an airplane. My partner cut it too close for comfort one time when he was flying and I was in the right seat.
Click to expand...


Technically my 30 minute incident was also that way, but make no mistake, with two pilots on board, you're still going to feel like an ass if your buddy makes you both land out somewhere.
 
A few times in cars. When I just got my first car and my license I didn't really have much money then, So I never filled the tank. I put in $3 at a time because I lived from paycheck to paycheck, or windfall. I have no idea how I got by back then. I also ran out once on a long road trip because I was busy yakking it up, having a good time and not watching the gas gauge at all.

I've also run out a couple of times on motorcycles when I forgot it was on reserve already. One of these times was one of the worst times I have ever had on a motorcycle because the motor quit at the very worst place, right in the middle of two multilane freeways meeting together and a little uphill on an elevated freeway.

I was able to make it to the "shoulder" but at that point it was only the size of a typical bicycle lane and on an interchange overpass, so when I looked down it was at least 100' to the ground. I had to leave the bike and hoof it along the narrow path with cars whizzing by at 65mph. Recovering the bike was the same. I had to walk back with a gas can along the same path for hundreds of feet I guess, gas her up and go.

Then there was one time in an airplane I almost ran out of gas. I was a new and excited pilot. I was flying a rented 172 and my IR was brand new. I was flying from KOAK to KSMO for a special 60th anniversary event of the Battle of Britain they were having at the museum there in those days. The event was awesome! Surviving pilots from both sides gave talks and signed autographs and outside there were flybys and displays of a Hurricane, a Spitfire and one of the most authentic BF-109s in the world. It was of German manufacture and had the correct Daimler DB-601 engine in it.

My flight to get there in the 172 was not so awesome. I flight planned to go IFR the whole way non stop and have an hour in the tank when I landed. However, headwinds were stronger than I expected. I thought about landing and filling up, but it seemed like I could make it and if I landed somewhere, I would likely miss some of the talks, so I pressed on.

When I got to the LA basin, it was actual IFR with ceilings around 1200ft at Santa Monica. Due to that, there was a lot of airline and other traffic around and they vectored me all over the damn place, not at all what I expected. I was already pretty low on gas, but I didn't want to declare some emergency so I stayed cool on the radio and sweated buckets in the cockpit. How good are these gas gauges anyways?

Finally I got my clearance, flew the approach broke out and landed. I had the fuel truck fuel my plane while I attended the event. When I got the fuel bill after it was over and I was going home, it was scary how much fuel I took on. I think I had about two gallons total left. I vowed never again and to this day I haven't even come close to that again. That's now about 15 years ago.

I get how people run out.
 
Last edited:
Stop me if I told this already - working at a tiny airport as a 17yo, one of the instructors took a date in the Aztec one night to a schmantzy restaurant in the boonies ie 2hrs away over forest, lakes etc, getting back after everyone had gone home. Next am we taxied it the 150' to the pumps and at least one engine (this was decades ago) quit due to fuel exhaustion. I think the Chief Pilot (a hot-headed German guy) chewed him up and worse later that day.
 
Never ran out of gas, but then the aircraft I fly don't have any gas tanks to begin with.

However I have been uncomfortably low a couple of times while gliding back to an airport...Found myself chanting out loud, "trust the polar, trust the polar."
 
I've run a lawnmower out of gas once, but that was it. In GA I've never come close, although I fly for fun so I don't feel many of the pressures that sometimes cause pilots to cut things a little tighter than they'd like.

Professionally I've dipped into a 45 minute reserve twice, although in both cases I wasn't backed into a corner, so it wasn't really a big deal.
 
GlennAB1 said:
Once, on my motorcycle.
Click to expand...

Only once, on a motorcycle as well.

Many years back, I was leaving work, running late, and meeting a girl I was dating for dinner in a town about 30mi away. As I was riding, I got the old familiar stumble and switched the bike to reserve, as I was running late, I rode on to dinner thinking no sweat, I'll get gas after dinner.

After dinner as I rolled out of town at about 10pm, it was if someone had rolled up the sidewalks. The several stations I pass in town were now closed, as was every other station I passed on that lonely 30mi stretch of 2-lane.

And it happens, stumble stumble gurgle BLAHHhhhh, and she was done. I coasted to the side of the road and started pushing. Up really steep hills, drift down, rinse/repeat. As cars came up behind I reach over and flip on the ignition switch to light up the tail light, then off again after they passed. Nobody stopped.

At the top of one big hill, I see an oasis down in the valley! Yes, an open Shell station! I drift down the hill and right up to the pump. As I go in to pay the guy, he says I'm damned lucky, the station closes at 11pm. It was 10:58. I filled my tank and rode on home.

Since that night I vowed no matter what, once a bike went on reserve I would stop at the first gas station and fill it up. Twenty two years later I still follow this rule and haven't run out of gas since. (although modern bikes have low fuel lights, not reserve)
 
I've never even come close in an airplane. I can count the number of times I've done so in a car on one hand.
 
My wife's dad never rescued the kids when they'd run out of gas, so they didn't run out of gas. At least not more than once.

He used to tell them "it's just as easy to keep the top half of the tank full as it is to keep the bottom half of the tank full."
 
In my airplane, after the longest leg I have flown, 485nm, I landed with about 6 gallons which is about an hour's fuel for the CTSW.

That's as close as I have come and as close as I ever want to come.
 
Running out of fuel is one of those things that confounds me. I just don't understand why someone would do that. I was angry with my 17 YO daughter not long ago and scolded her for it. Then I noticed her tank was almost dry just again yesterday. It defies logic to me. Even more so in a plane.

Back when I was a student pilot my CFI showed me how bad the fuel gauge in the 150 was and lectured me then to never trust it. Ever. Even back then I was wondering why so much emphasis and expense is put into flight safety, and then to allow for such a mind-blowing deficit as inaccurate fuel gauges.
 
Captain said:
How many time have you run out of gas?
Click to expand...

0

On my Vespa: 0
In my car: 0
On the hog: 0
In my truck: 0
In my wife's car: 0
In my boat: 0
In my plane: 0
----------------------
Total: 0

How do people do it? I feel deficient. Maybe I should buy a Cirrus. ;) You don't need a fuel gauge if you have a chute, right? :D
(it is a joke, nothing else, I don't hate Cirri)
 
I've never landed with less than an hour of gas in the tanks, fortunately, but I've driven to the point that I think there was no gas left aft of the pump.
 
Gerhardt said:
Back when I was a student pilot my CFI showed me how bad the fuel gauge in the 150 was and lectured me then to never trust it. Ever. Even back then I was wondering why so much emphasis and expense is put into flight safety, and then to allow for such a mind-blowing deficit as inaccurate fuel gauges.
Click to expand...

Making really accurate gauges for a vehicle that moves significantly in three axes is a real challenge, especially in the 1960s-1970s when that 150 was made.

If you want to really *know* how much fuel you have, get a plane with sight tubes. They don't lie unless physics stops working. Though they can be hard to read accurately when it's very turbulent.
 
bullwinkle said:
Making really accurate gauges for a vehicle that moves significantly in three axes is a real challenge, especially in the 1960s-1970s when that 150 was made.

If you want to really *know* how much fuel you have, get a plane with sight tubes. They don't lie unless physics stops working. Though they can be hard to read accurately when it's very turbulent.
Click to expand...



Not always true...I had a Taylorcraft that immediately on takeoff one tank would show empty on the sight gauge when it was full. I've heard that American Grummans do that too.
 
550+ hours of flying, never run out of fuel in a plane.

I ran out of diesel in a car that was new to me. The gauge was smooth and accurate from full to 1/4 tank. It stuck at 1/4 tank... I made it to within a block of my house at the end of a 460 mile trip.
 
bullwinkle said:
Making really accurate gauges for a vehicle that moves significantly in three axes is a real challenge, especially in the 1960s-1970s when that 150 was made.
Click to expand...

If we could put a man on the moon we could make a reliable fuel gauge. Regardless, the technology certainly exists now.
 
tawood said:
Not always true...I had a Taylorcraft that immediately on takeoff one tank would show empty on the sight gauge when it was full. I've heard that American Grummans do that too.
Click to expand...

That's due to pitch angle on climb out. You read sight tubes when flying straight an level.
 
Gerhardt said:
If we could put a man on the moon we could make a reliable fuel gauge. Regardless, the technology certainly exists now.
Click to expand...

Sure, if you pay space program prices for a fuel gauge, I bet it would be dead on. ;)
 
Based upon other threads, I believe the question should be rephrased.

"How many times have you run out of fuel, as a CFI, while instructing an ex-playboy bunny?"

Based on her years as a student, she may never solo....
 
I've never even come close to running out of gas in a "real" airplane.

I've come close in ultralights a few times; but like most people who fly under Part 103, I usually carry some extra cargo that happens to look and smell a lot like gasoline. :rolleyes:

I never ran out of gas in a car, but I came close a few times. I had an old-school Kia Sportage with an unreliable fuel gauge. I never could track down exactly where the fault was. I checked every part of it and they always checked out okay, but it still didn't work reliably. There must have been some intermittent short, break, or bad ground somewhere in the wiring.

So I used the trip odometer as the fuel gauge. I knew that I usually could get about 275 miles out of a tank of gas, so I usually filled up around 225 to 250 miles. If I was in doubt whether I could get to a nearby destination or a cheap preferred gas station, I'd make a really hard left turn. If the car didn't stall, I had at least another 25 miles worth of gas. If it stalled, then I didn't.

Rich
 
Gerhardt said:
If we could put a man on the moon we could make a reliable fuel gauge. Regardless, the technology certainly exists now.
Click to expand...

Part of the problem is wing tanks. They're what 5 sf by a few inches tall. A single sender of any technology is going to have a lot of variation there.

Actually EI makes (and I've been experimenting with a similar design using an ARDINO) a fuel indicator that attempts to calibrate your float ratings into a better gallons used indication.
 
flyingron said:
Part of the problem is wing tanks. They're what 5 sf by a few inches tall. A single sender of any technology is going to have a lot of variation there.

Actually EI makes (and I've been experimenting with a similar design using an ARDINO) a fuel indicator that attempts to calibrate your float ratings into a better gallons used indication.
Click to expand...

I've always wondered why not use three capacitance probes in each tank and use the combined data to calculate the actual fuel level. You would need one on the inboard side of the tank, one on the outboard side of the tank, and one either forward or aft of the other two. That would allow for bank and pitch to be sensed and factored into a reasonably accurate fuel level.

Rich
 
RJM62 said:
I've always wondered why not use three capacitance probes in each tank and use the combined data to calculate the actual fuel level. You would need one on the inboard side of the tank, one on the outboard side of the tank, and one either forward or aft of the other two. That would allow for bank and pitch to be sensed and factored into a reasonably accurate fuel level.

Rich
Click to expand...
They probably considered the cost of the system and decided against it. Most bigger airplanes have this type of system.
 
Never in a plane but too close for comfort twice. Several times in my old Rambler when I was young, dumb, and very broke. Once a few years ago in the suburban when I was too old, still dumb, and very broke. I was only a mile to so from the gas station with my three dogs in the truck. Walking wasn't much of an option. In this case, I was distracted by my pax. Yeah, that's the reason.
 
Just out of curiosity, what does the FAA do to a pilot who runs out of gas? IMHO, it should be an automatic suspension.

I've had two friends run out of gas in airplanes. Only one survived the mistake. :(
 
Never in a plane. My personal minimum is one hour fuel upon landing.
 
Jay Honeck said:
Just out of curiosity, what does the FAA do to a pilot who runs out of gas? IMHO, it should be an automatic suspension.
:(
Click to expand...

Around here it's an automatic 709 ride.
 
iAlex said:
Never ran out of gas, but then the aircraft I fly don't have any gas tanks to begin with.

However I have been uncomfortably low a couple of times while gliding back to an airport...Found myself chanting out loud, "trust the polar, trust the polar."
Click to expand...

I've never run out in a plane. But I did decide to make a straight-in approach once in a glider, "just to be on the safe side." I've not landed out yet, but understand it's only a matter of time.
 
Never in an aircraft, been pretty close with helicopters, you can only carry so much. Cars and motorcycles lots of times, done the hitchhiking bit and pushed bikes quite aways. Had a truck that would sputter when the gas got low and sloshed away from the pickup tube and with smooth driving I could get another thirty miles out of it. In my defense I used to look at the gas level then decide on the gas station I was going to stop at hours away, several times I ran out and coasted I to my chosen gas station. In MA it is a 100 dollar ticket for running out of gas.
 
Came pretty close once and for a reason that may seem unlikely. There was a little strip out in the valley that was selling gas at a bargain price so we decided to fly the Maule out there (about 20 min) and fill it up. When the pump shut off and we saw the total my brother and I just looked at each other with jaw agape WTF expressions. We were certain that the reason the gas was so cheap was because the pump was rigged, no way could we have been that low.

Well the fact was that we had become so used to the accuracy of our JPI fuel flow indicator that we had grown to trust it WAY too much. It turns out that, although it is highly accurate, the total remaining fuel is only as accurate as the idiot who told it how much it had to begin with :redface:
 
How many times have you run out of gas? I think one time is enough for anyone.
 
Captain said:
You are allowed to burn into your reserves under IFR just like VFR. What's the alternative? Shut the engines down to save the required fuel??
Click to expand...
The alternative is to monitor your fuel use, calculate your fuel after flying an approach plus diverting if an alternate is required then change the flight if those calculations show that you'd need to dip into the 45 minute reserve. While shutting the engines down would reduce the fuel use there are better choices. For instance you can divert to a closer airport, change to a more favorable altitude, or simply slow down.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top