Fuel "dip stick"

[TTaylor]

Here are the values I used for my 20F with bladders. I use gray PVC pipe and score it at 2" increments. Easy to see the fuel level on the gray and only costs a few dollars at most hardware stores. A second order polynomial will fit this well if you want to add finer details. As always test your own plane after making one.

Bladders

Inches Gallons

0 6

2 13

4 19

6 24

8 27

[DaV8or]

I may do my stick again. I did it when I had the tanks completely empty for the calibration of my new fuel gauges. The problem is, to calibrate the fuel gauges, the plane had to be level and so that is how my stick is calibrated, with the plane level. However, when a Mooney is on it's gear, it is not level. The whole process is just such a PITA that I've avoided doing it again.

[Andy95W]

I may do my stick again. I did it when I had the tanks completely empty for the calibration of my new fuel gauges. The problem is, to calibrate the fuel gauges, the plane had to be level and so that is how my stick is calibrated, with the plane level. However, when a Mooney is on it's gear, it is not level. The whole process is just such a PITA that I've avoided doing it again.

Same here. I got mine close,,checked it a few times, realized it was a little conservative, and figured that was good enough. I generally have 1/2 - 1 gallon more than what my stick says, depending on how level the airplane is.

Little Timmy would say that a conservative stick is better than a bleeding-heart liberal one.

[Hank]

NO,! Keep Little Timmy in his box! (Although I agree with this comment.)

[Pooldoc]

I want to thank you guys for all the good advice regarding the fuel dip stick. I made one using Tim's numbers, on a wooden paint stick, for a 32 gallon tank. It is very accurate considering what the fuel flow meter says I used from last fill up. Thanks again.

I just made a PVC fuel tank selector valve tool and am working on a cordless drill powered taxi "tool".

Larry

[Browncbr1]

I want to thank you guys for all the good advice regarding the fuel dip stick. I made one using Tim's numbers, on a wooden paint stick, for a 32 gallon tank. It is very accurate considering what the fuel flow meter says I used from last fill up. Thanks again.

I just made a PVC fuel tank selector valve tool and am working on a cordless drill powered taxi "tool".

Larry

Hi Larry,

Would you be so kind as to share your measurements for the 32 gal tank? That's without a bladder, right?

Thanks!

Craig

[Stefanovm]

I made a yard stick one. I keep it in the airplane. However, I find that knowing the aircraft and starting any non-local trip with full tanks is the best method for me. When I refuel to full, I am usually within 0.25 gallons of amount used, even if two or three flights between fill ups. I have no electronic totalizer, but now my GTN-650 can do part of the artihmetic gph/flight time. I find that my eyeballs, knowing flight time and power settings are still the best. If in doubt I fill up.

[bus driver]

Newbie here to the Mooney world. I created the attached cards for my 182 and used the plexiglass universal fuel stick from Sporty's. I fueled the a/c 5 gals at a time, switching back and fourth between tanks to keep it balanced for better fuel guage accuracy. Works great and very accurate. As a skydive pilot, I use a wooden stick with graduated markings (standard for the industry) which is also very accurate. Many thanks for all the great info on this site.  Bus Driver.

 

Left fuel Gauge and Stick

 

In Tank/Uni Gauge

5 gal = 0

10 gal = 0

15 gal = 2

20 gal = 3

25 gal = 4.5

30 gal = 6

35 gal = 8

36.8 gal = 9.75

__________________________________________

Fuel Gauge

w/5 gal gauge reads below E.

w/10 gal gauge reads E

w/15 gal gauge reads btwn E & ¼

w/20 gal gauge reads btwn ¼ & ½

w/25 gal gauge reads ½

w/30 gal gauge reads ¾

w/35 gal gauge reads ¾

w/36.8 gauge reads 3/4

 

 

 

 

Right fuel Gauge and Stick

 

In Tank/Uni Gauge

5 gal = 0

10 gal = 0

15 gal = 2

20 gal = 3.5

25 gal = 4.75

30 gal = 6

35 gal = 8.25

36.8 gal = 9.75

__________________________________________

Fuel Gauge

w/5 gal gauge reads below E.

w/10 gal gauge reads just above E

w/15 gal gauge reads btwn E & ¼

w/20 gal gauge reads just below ¼

w/25 gal gauge reads ½

w/30 gal gauge reads ¾

w/35 gal gauge reads ¾

w/36.8 gauge reads 3/4

[N7186V]

Congrats on the new (to you) Mooney! I also have a '75 F. Her name is Riley. Great plane!

Welcome to Mooneyspace!

My '75 F is Mariah. Welcome PoolDoc.

[Marauder]

My '75 F is Mariah. Welcome PoolDoc.

My 75F is named Vic.

[RobertGary1]

The plastic sticks require you to plug the top hole with your finger. Something not simple when your thumb is frozen or sweaty. The wood ones are best. They read clearly and fully "reset" with a couple waves through the air.

-Robert

[Hector]

Home Depot paint stick. Made by adding one gallon at a time. Very accurate and matched my JPI very well. I use it before every flight to make sure my fuel quantity per JPI is correct.

[isaacpr7]

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1421622606.034781.jpg

Home Depot paint stick. Made by adding one gallon at a time. Very accurate and matched my JPI very well. I use it before every flight to make sure my fuel quantity per JPI is correct.

Hector,

Does it make a difference where in the hole you put the stick when you insert it (i.e. left, center, or right)? Just wondering, since the wing has a dihedral angle.

[Hector]

Hector,

Does it make a difference where in the hole you put the stick when you insert it (i.e. left, center, or right)? Just wondering, since the wing has a dihedral angle.

I'm not sure. I always put the stick in the center, or as close to center as my eyeball can tell. Accurate enough. I can predict very accurately how many gallons it will take to fill up. I'll check it out to see how much difference if I move the stick inboard/outboard.

[DaV8or]

Hector,

Does it make a difference where in the hole you put the stick when you insert it (i.e. left, center, or right)? Just wondering, since the wing has a dihedral angle.

 

I have always used the notch for the gas cap that is closest to the flaps. It's what I used when I calibrated my Home Depot yard stick. Stick it in the notch every time and I'm very, very close to where it was when I made the stick... except the plane was level on jacks at the time when I made the stick! Like I said, I need to make a new one some day.

[DXB]

Here are the values I used for my 20F with bladders. I use gray PVC pipe and score it at 2" increments. Easy to see the fuel level on the gray and only costs a few

dollars at most hardware stores. A second order polynomial will fit this well if you want to add finer details. As always test your own plane after making one.

Bladders

Inches Gallons

0 6

2 13

4 19

6 24

8 27

I wasn't quite sure how to undertake adding a gallon at a time without my own outside tanks to drain into or self serve fuel on my field to fill.  So I tried out these measurements on a wood paint stick for my M20C with bladders, not knowing how different the tank/wing configuration is in the C vs the F.  I checked the level on the stick before seeing how much it took to top off a couple of times (once adding 13/16 gallons per tank and another time adding 6/10).  I positioned the stick in the notch at the back of the hole for consistency.  The numbers here seem very close, so I added a few intermediate values on the stick using the curve fitting suggested above.  As long as I stay conservative with my estimates, I think this will be ok until I can get JPI fuel flow installed.  

[RobertGary1]

You'll love the jpi. There are flights I couldn't have made without it. Knowing your exact fuel is important. I've seen ff as high as 18 gph on departure and I've dialed below 7 in Mexico when fuel became unavailable. Just seeing the spread between your fob time estimate against your eta on the gps can allow you to skip a fuel stop.

[TTaylor]

You'll love the jpi. There are flights I couldn't have made without it. Knowing your exact fuel is important. I've seen ff as high as 18 gph on departure and I've dialed below 7 in Mexico when fuel became unavailable. Just seeing the spread between your fob time estimate against your eta on the gps can allow you to skip a fuel stop.

+1. Love the FS 450. Have mine slaved with the GPS so also get fuel required to next waypoint. Even with bladders and only 54 gallons I can comfortably fly five hours with an hour reserve.

[Q The Engineer]

On 12/22/2014 at 1:13 AM, Andy95W said:

If you have 52 gal. tanks, the following works: (cut and pasted from a previous posting)

 

 

Fuel tank stick markings

 

My archive has a post I salted away from Rob Hoyle, who graciously provided the measurements and markings from the dipstick he (and the prior owner) calibrated for his 1964 C model, and which seems to be VERY well calibrated to my '66 E model. I stick the tanks before filling to see what I expect, and compare the result to my fuel totalizer and the numbers off the gas pump- the stick is usually right on the money.

 

Get a wooden paint stir stick from Home Depot or similar, then mark it with a finepoint sharpie. The fuel soaks into the wood just enough to make it easy to see the level when you pull it out, but is dry enough to be easy to measure the next tank by the time you've walked over and pulled the cap.

 

Inches - Gallons

9 - 26

8 1/2 - 25

8 - 24

7 5/8 - 23

7 1/4 - 22

6 7/8 - 21

6 1/2 - 20

6 1/16 - 19

5 3/4 - 18

5 7/16 - 17

5 1/16 - 16

4 13/16 - 15

4 1/2 - 14

4 1/8 - 13

3 7/8 - 12

3 1/2 - 11

3 1/16 - 10

2 11/16 - 9

2 3/8 - 8

2 1/8 - 7

1 3/4 - 6

Great info.