Quick fuel stop question.

MarcoDA40

MarcoDA40

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Apr 14, 2015
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Marco
So far, everywhere I go I have used full service. Wether it’s just a fuel stop or fueling up at my destination airport.
I’ve only done self service once in KAVL.. so I’m familiar with the process.
As I look at my planned trips coming up, I would like faster turn arounds and also save a few bucks when possible/practical.
As mentioned above, I usually park, go in the fbo, request fuel, use the bathroom and potentially get snacks. It’s a whole 30-45 min ordeal.

If I want to fuel up at an uncontrolled field and use self serve.. do I need to let anyone know? Like on Unicom or something? or do I just make my regular patten entry calls and announce my taxi to the pump, pump gas , taxi to runway and depart?
That would cut the time down on my fuel stops by a lot .

thanks .
 
The second....regular pattern, taxi to the pumps. Have a pair of gloves handy in case the hose is crappy.
 
MarcoDA40 said:
do I need to let anyone know? Like on Unicom or something? or do I just make my regular patten entry calls and announce my taxi to the pump, pump gas , taxi to runway and depart?
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No, no, yes*, yes, and yes, respectively.

*You can even omit "announcing that you're taxiing to the pump". That part is unnecessary. Just announce "down and clear", and then taxi whereever.
 
I can’t even recall the last time I used full service. Taxi up, fight with the credit card reader, pump and go. Just be sure you return everything to the position you found it in to include turning the dang pump off! Even if the noise stops, turn the dagum pump switch or handle to off!
 
No you do not need to let anyone know. Taxi up, insert credit card and fuel up.
 
Will Kumley said:
Why do I get the impression there's a story to this statement?
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No real story. Just seems that 7 times out of 10 when I get self serve some bonehead didn’t turn the switch off. So I go through the painstaking process of entering all the information on the card reader, roll the hose and ground cable out, climb up the ladder (if I’m flying the cessna) and get nothing from the pump. If you cycle the switch you have to start the whole process over again.
 
I have gotten into the habit of saying “clear of rwy xx, taxiing to self serve” because even at some non towered fields people in the FBO will be listening and might send someone out to park you. But it’s not required.
 
Grum.Man said:
No real story. Just seems that 7 times out of 10 when I get self serve some bonehead didn’t turn the switch off. So I go through the painstaking process of entering all the information on the card reader, roll the hose and ground cable out, climb up the ladder (if I’m flying the cessna) and get nothing from the pump. If you cycle the switch you have to start the whole process over again.
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This is why you don’t fly cessnas. OR check the pump every time BEFORE starting the process. I know, you’re welcome :)
 
eman1200 said:
This is why you don’t fly cessnas. OR check the pump every time BEFORE starting the process. I know, you’re welcome :)
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I know I know. I’ll get in a routine of doing it and never find one with the switch left on. Then I’ll stop checking and bam! Credit card N number hell all over again.
 
Will Kumley said:
Why do I get the impression there's a story to this statement?
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If you don't turn off the pump, the next person may use your credit card to fill the 80 gallons on a 182....
 
murphey said:
If you don't turn off the pump, the next person may use your credit card to fill the 80 gallons on a 182....
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That’s actually closer to the story I expected. Something like, I lost a few hundred dollars by forgetting to turn off the pump.
 
Will Kumley said:
That’s actually closer to the story I expected. Something like, I lost a few hundred dollars by forgetting to turn off the pump.
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Happens at Front Range all the time. Because we've got cheaper gas, everyone comes over here to fill up.
 
Grum.Man said:
I know I know. I’ll get in a routine of doing it and never find one with the switch left on. Then I’ll stop checking and bam! Credit card N number hell all over again.
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Omg I thought I was the only one this happens to
 
Can't remember the last time I fueled at a self serve pump. Most of the airports around here that have a FBO don't have a self serve pump. Airports that don't have a FBO may or may not have fuel available. The ones that have fuel you normally need to call someone for them to unlock the pump. If you are lucky the will show up in 30 min or so...
 
murphey said:
Happens at Front Range all the time. Because we've got cheaper gas, everyone comes over here to fill up.
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...and if the previous guy forgets to turn off the pump, it's really cheap gas...
 
sourdough44 said:
For faster turnarounds, park at self serf, pee behind the tank, fuel & go.
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And the whole time I thought that the dead grass behind the pump was because of a fuel leak...

When I fly back into the states, I used to do self serve to save a few bucks. I have now figured out that trying to do self serve after clearing customs saves only about $20 but adds almost an hour to my time plus 2/10ths to my hobbs for taxi. Current MO is to land at customs, request fuel, clear customs and head out. Bill is paid via credit card on file.
 
As most have said, self serve fuel is easy. Use ForeFlight or Garmin Pilot 100LL map overlay to find the best prices at acceptable airports (runway length/condition etc) then check the comments to make sure there's self serve and it's 24 hrs. On my trip CA-MA this Christmas I also checked with airport manager to make sure runways/taxiways were plowed.
 
murphey said:
If you don't turn off the pump, the next person may use your credit card to fill the 80 gallons on a 182....
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Of course, if you find that the last guy left it on for you, you should graciously accept his generosity and politely leave it on for the next guy, too.

:D
 
murphey said:
If you don't turn off the pump, the next person may use your credit card to fill the 80 gallons on a 182....
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The one and only time I used self serve (KSJX Beaver Island Michigan), I left my CC in the reader. I only realized it two days later, but fortunately they had retrieved the card for me. Most people are honest.

But I did like the idea of fueling the plane myself. I didn't know Asheville even had self serve fuel. Been there many times.
 
Groundpounder said:
Self Serve is $1 per gallon cheaper than full serve at my homedrome. That is a pretty significant savings.
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We have an interesting deal at FTG that just started. Self-serve is $1 cheaper but....if you’re based here and sign a silly form, the truck price is 80 cents cheaper.
 
sourdough44 said:
For faster turnarounds, park at self serve, pee behind the tank, fuel & go.


Spelling, correcting spellcheck.
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I think everyone did that at Beaver County (BVI) 'cuz it smelled like a cat box behind the pumps ...
IIRC I paid $1.52/gallon in 1999.
 
It's not possible to do that with most of them. They won't let you proceed with the fueling until you pull the card back out.

I almost always fuel myself even if the fuel truck comes out. It's way easy to underfill the Navion main tanks if you don't know what you're doing and the aux tank can give you a 100LL shower if you aren't listening carefully as the sound of the fuel gurgling up the filler neck is your indication it is full.
 
CFIs really need to teach things like this. It’s not in the ACS or PTS, but if they take just a bit of extra time and effort to help students learn how to navigate the FBO system, it would be a benefit. Set up dual cross-countries so refueling stops at both self-serve and full-serve FBOs happen. Little things like that will only help newly minted pilots when they venture outside the narrow training ground they’ve been in.

Unfortunately a fair number of CFIs don’t have the experience themselves, especially if they’re 141 products working for the same school they learned at and are held to a rigid template. They really don’t have the seasoning yet to be training others.
 
On my flight home tomorrow, we have fuel stops in Shannon, Ireland and Bangor, Maine. I think we’ll use the fuel truck. :). When traveling on my dime in a single engine, I’ll use the FBO at destinations but seek out self service for fuel stops.
 
If you are planning a fuel stop at a small rural airport check ahead of time to make sure they have an above ground fuel tank. I will not fill at an airport with a buried tank anymore, learned an expensive lesson!
 
Might be a good idea to inspect the self serve locations. We go to T23 a few times a year and I will not buy fuel there, check out the picture. I took it September 2, 2019. If the last time they changed the filter was 20 years ago when was the last time they sumped it?20190902_084929 (2).jpg
 
I have yet to find a readable LCD screen..
 
Briar Rabbit said:
If you are planning a fuel stop at a small rural airport check ahead of time to make sure they have an above ground fuel tank. I will not fill at an airport with a buried tank anymore, learned an expensive lesson!
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Why not? What was the lesson learned?
 
Typical fuel stop for me is for self-serve fuel... but despite that it's not always "self-serve." I'll explain. Doing a little calling ahead and research can be a great aid.

A typical flight for me is NJ to FL or vice-versa with my family in my Twin Comanche, it requires one fuel stop to make the trip. I tend to land at one of two airports in NC for fuel and I make the selection of which one based on time of day. One sells fuel for "self serve prices" (and indeed, the price is quite low) but if you arrive during normal business hours, someone will usually come out and fuel you up free of charge. After hours, I adjust to an airport that provides a code to get inside for the bathroom and other facilities, including a stocked-up fridge with sodas and snacks. Similar fuel price.

Calling ahead is also a good idea to make sure everything is working with the self serve fuel pump.

At times I do plan to make a "full service stop" and will pay a few extra bucks for the convenience, and amenities.
 
Be wary of unknown, smaller airports. Check airport notams, or the comments in FF if you have it. Some don’t have fuel at all, some have inoperable self-serve machines. Happened twice to me. First time I had a fuel stop planned in the middle of Wyoming. Place was dead. Couldn’t find fuel anywhere. Second time was of no personal consequence as it was my home field, but it was after hours and the FBO was closed so I went to self-serve and it wasn’t working. Found out they were replacing phone lines or whatever and the CC reader couldn’t connect to the server.

Long story short, now I make phone calls ahead of time to ensure fuel is available at the smaller fields, and don’t plan a stop where the amount of go juice is questionable to get you to an alternate.
 
I used to have the worst luck and form with self serve. Either too weak a stream or a gusher, stuck pumps, etc. Most were user error and I've gotten better. Prefer a truck.

Also, never stick the filler more than 3 inches in - if you have a bladder, you could have an expensive day

murphey said:
We have an interesting deal at FTG that just started. Self-serve is $1 cheaper but....if you’re based here and sign a silly form, the truck price is 80 cents cheaper.
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That's a good deal for you guys

Shepherd said:
And be prepared to find the credit card reader is broken, the display screen is unreadable, the ladder is missing or broken, or any combination of the list.
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Ladder? Who needs a ladder? Oh right, another Cessna inferiority :p
 
And can anyone tell me what the point of entering my N number is? I actually enter a fake/nonexistent number every time only because it feels “big brother”-ish.
 
Weekend Warrior said:
And can anyone tell me what the point of entering my N number is? I actually enter a fake/nonexistent number every time only because it feels “big brother”-ish.
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Probably more just to help you for tax purposes, though I could see them wanting to know who caused a fire or major spill that they just left.
 
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