Pelmet wrote:
The North-Wright Airways Ltd. Beech 99, C-FKHD, was operated as a single-pilot cargo day-VFR flight from Fort Good Hope, NT to Inuvik, NT. The aircraft departed Fort Good Hope with approximately 760 to 800 pounds of fuel at a flight planned altitude of 4500 feet ASL. 100 nm north of Fort Good Hope the pilot determined that 5 to 10 minutes of the VFR reserve fuel would be required to reach Inuvik.
This seems to have been missed by most of the posters here, it was an error in calculating how much fuel was onboard simple as that. I know for a fact no pilot, I mean absolutely no pilot in their right mind departs without at least thinking they have enough fuel. I wouldn't think they would depart knowing they would be using the reserve fuel ahead of time either. Granny Gas doesn't weigh anything. Always had a couple hundred pounds of it, for gauge error or unforseen things like stronger than forecast winds, lower ceiling vfr, etc.
Liquid charlie wrote:
Until we get like the trucking industry we really have no idea on what we really weigh --
Liquid, you really don't want to be like the trucking industry, 1st of all there is far more oversight on the trucking industry. I drove a truck for 3 years after 9/11 claimed my flying gig. You know all those scales you pass on the hwy, that are full of trucks getting weighed. Guess what they're not for show you know exactly how much you weigh, and further more your axles have to be with-in the limits aswell as the total weight. It's a tricky proposition, when you pull into a yard, you weigh the truck empty(tare wt.) then you load and re-weigh(gross) then you have your payload. Sometime if the loader messed up you would have to go back and shift the load around for your axle weights to be in limit. Always tried to show up with full tanks because if you were near empty and got a full load then fueled up, now you're overweight.
Also those same above mentioned scales from time to time will have inspections set up, they're checking everything, brakes with-in tolerances, lights, air lines for leaks, etc. Then if they find anything, you're done until it can be repaired where you sit. Now there is usually a scale when you enter a province or state and one when you exit, aswell as the ones placed willy nilly. I had one day where I was spot checked 3 time in 3 different states and each of them don't give a crap that you passed one check an hour before in another state. Guess what you're not being paid for all this fu-k--g around either, only when the wheels are moving.
So NO, I don't want aviation to be more like the trucking industry
