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Fuel quantity monitoring: Pilots put great store in digital fuel monitors, or totalizers. Their faith is warranted, but there are also limitations. Fuel totalizers: • ... are only as good as the data input into them. Many fuel exhaustion events are presaged by the pilot inputting the amount of fuel he/she thought was put into the airplane but was not – a reminder that pilots should personally watch fueling operations whenever possible. • ... must be calibrated properly. When you fill the tanks, check the amount the totalizer says should be loaded to check its accuracy. If there’s more than a couple tenths of a gallon difference you may want to have the calibration checked. • ... display how much fuel is remain- ing (assuming data input is correct), but not where it is located. Pilots need to track the distribution of fuel between tanks by different means. • ... tell you how much fuel has gone through the transducer, but they cannot detect if any is leaking out another way such as venting through a poorly sealed fuel cap. Old-fashioned fuel gauges are a neces- sary “sanity check” to monitor fuel level and the distribution of fuel between tanks. Further, if there is a discrepancy between the totalizer reading and the fuel gauges, don’t dismiss the old, analog technology. Only traditional fuel gauges actually sense what is (or isn’t) in the tanks. If the indicated level is lower than expected, believe it and act accordingly. Use a totalizer and fuel gauges together. Can you really believe fuel gauges? See the sidebar within this article. Time updates: Frequently check not only the current fuel state, but the amount of time left in the tanks before you reach into reserves, and the time to destination. Calculate the amount of time remaining in the tanks when you expect to arrive, and begin making plans to stop for fuel now if the time in the tanks at the end of your flight will be less than your “adequate reserve.” More considerations for cruise flight fuel tactical review: As you pass checkpoints or GPS dis- tances remaining, check actual fuel National Flight Simulator Short N Numbers Rosen Sun Visor Systems October 2019 / TWIN & TURBINE • 15