PilotEdge Forums

I just wanted to share this and say thanks so much to the controllers that helped me this evening. I'm quite new to IFR flight and first off, the controllers patience was really appreciated as he helped me amend my flight plan as I'd made it incorrectly due to a lack of a turboprop approach at KSFO.

Apparently the HotStart TBM is a little more realistic than I'd expected. Having climbed to FL240 I look to my left and see a very thick contrail...Hmm, that doesn't look right...Is that...Fuel?! Yep, it was, and I'd lost half a tank in about 30 minutes. Oops.

So I called up LA Centre, they vectored me in for at a local field and helped me along the way (even making me feel better saying they'd made the same mistake!).

Had an awesome (but stressful) time, and honestly it was one of the most rewarding flight simulator experiences I've had.

Thanks again - nothing compares to the PE experience.

Glad we got you down safely. Yes, I too had left the fuel caps off the TBM. Mainly because I didn't know they could be left off. Welcome to Santa Barbara

And it was at night, on top of that, quite the stressful situation! I wonder how many times this kind of stuff happens in real life... Doesn't it cause a fire danger when landing as well, or was the wing tank already empty when you arrived to the airfield?

Forgetting to replace the fuel caps results in a venturi effect sucking the fuel out of the tanks once the airspeed is high enough to create low pressure over the top of the wings, but when the plane is on the ground no fuel is lost from open fuel tanks. The fuel that has leaked from the tanks flow rearward, away from any ignition sources, and evaporates into the environment quickly, so the risk of fire is low.