Pilots regularly hop out of a glider after a flight, get a container of fuel, refuel the aircraft and then, just before jumping in their car, announce, “We are down to our last 10 liters in the shed.” Immediately thereafter, they are off in a cloud of dust.
Since all of our members are very community spirited, the tendency to leave it up to “somebody” to get the fuel can only be because of uncertainty over the procedure.
The Procedure:
1. Put containers in the car boot or in the rusty brown (registered and legal) trailer parked in the bracken on the eastern side of the back hangar.
2. Drive to Fuel Depot.
3. Pump 98 octane fuel into containers. Do not overfill – if it’s a 10 litre container, put 10 litres in it.
4. Give the Fuel Depot people the account code. (Ask a senior pilot or committee member for the code, and be sure to print your name & sign)
5. Get a receipt.
6. Return to Club, unload fuel, make note of date and quantity on tally sheet in fuel shed. Put receipt in envelope with appropriate info. Put envelope in drawer.
7. Feel Virtuous
Cheers,
Norm
(with further input from Colin, Erich et al)
One Response to Fuel Procedures
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment
I did this some time ago when we had no fuel left, and I put every container in the shed into my van, ending up with 230 litres. By the time I was a couple of hundred metres from the servo on the way back, the van was full of fumes to the extent that I had to open the windows to breathe. I went to turn the radio on, then realised that a stray spark could lead to what I believe firefighters refer to as a “bleve”, or boiling liquid expanding vapour explosion. Not a nice way to go.
While I have and no doubt will again get a can of fuel for my lawnmower, I am NOT going to carry significant quantities of fuel in an enclosed vehicle ever again, and I don’t believe the club should in any way encourage this (even in the boot of a car, as its not sealed from the interior and the brake light could set it off).
The rusty but registered trailer should be the only way to move fuel.
David.