Nathan's right. Monday mornin' quarterbackin' is too easy.
Running out of gas is too easy, too. Otherwise, it wouldn't happen so often.
It nearly happened to me bringing my plane home from New York! Stupid mistake! Nobody to blame but myself. The airplane (and gauges) operated flawlessly.
I had been flying all day, and had stopped for fuel. I started this leg with full tanks and had planned the late afternoon cross country flight with adequate reserves and several good alternates. I would be on the ground just before dark. An hour or so after takeoff, my ground speed showed headwinds stronger than predicted, and if they continued, they would soon be eating into my reserves over the destination. Already half-way through the flight, I didn't want to waste fuel searching for more (or less) favorable winds at altitude. I throttled back and leaned for best power trying to stretch my endurance, thinking I could still reach my destination with "adequate" reserve. Once closer to my destination than to any alternate, headwinds increased still further, and ground speed decreased to what seemed like a crawl. Now burning my reserves and already tired, I wasn't thinking clearly, and realized my mistake too late (endurance doesn't mean range). I could stay in the air longer, but I wouldn't travel as far! Traffic on the interstate below passed me with ease. It was now after sunset, the guages showed empty, and I was still 10 miles from the airport. The headwinds finally diminished some, and I set up for a long straight in descending approach from cruise altitude with the engine not much more than idling.
I checked the tanks after landing. Bone dry! There wasn't enough fuel in the gascolator to drain! I had literally landed and taxied to the pumps on fumes... AND AT NIGHT! I'm sure that if the airport had been another mile away, or the pilot controlled lighting hadn't worked, I would have landed off field, and without visual reference! It definately wasn't intelligence that put me here like this, or skill that saved me from becoming another statistic...!
