Does anyone have one or has anyone had any experience with the "Fuel Mizer Fuel Flow Gauge" sold by Aircraft Spruce on page 356 part# 10-00220. If so what comments do you have on it and is it worth the $299, which is by far the cheapest of the fuel flow/fuel management systems available that will work on a 170 or 180.
Thanks, Harold
Fuel Flow Gauge
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Harold Holiman
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zero.one.victor
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No experience. No offense Harold,but I think for a 170 (or even for a 180) a fuel flow gage is kinda like a manifold pressure gage on a fixed-pitch prop airplane: kinda fun to look at for a while,but not real useful. I figure fuel burn by tach time: about 8 gph with my 170,per my fuel use/tach time records over the whole time I've owned the airplane. If it's gonna be such a close call that you need a fuel-flow readout,like with one of those digital computerized instruments,for god's sake just land & gas up!
I'd hate to see someone run dry & auger in because his digital gage brain-farted. A friend of mine ran out of fuel over the Cascades in his turbine Bonanza last summer,and was killed emergency landing in a too-small field. His 2 sons were on board,one of whom was beat up pretty severely. I just saw that son yesterday,flying his dad's pretty 170B. Pretty brave of the kid not to abandon flying,I think. I'm sure the scars on his face remind him of the wreck every time he looks in the mirror.
Eric
Eric
I'd hate to see someone run dry & auger in because his digital gage brain-farted. A friend of mine ran out of fuel over the Cascades in his turbine Bonanza last summer,and was killed emergency landing in a too-small field. His 2 sons were on board,one of whom was beat up pretty severely. I just saw that son yesterday,flying his dad's pretty 170B. Pretty brave of the kid not to abandon flying,I think. I'm sure the scars on his face remind him of the wreck every time he looks in the mirror.
Eric
Eric
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Harold Holiman
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- Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2002 1:54 pm
If I fill the tanks, I fly for 3 hours and then land at the
nearest airport with gas.
I get nervous if the wing-root tank needles dip into
the red (0-1/4 fuel remaining).
Needless to say, I'm a big chicken when it comes to fuel
reserves....
Somebody I know wrecked a good 180 awhile back
by running out of gas 1/2 mile from the intended
destination/airport (we've been repairing / working
on said 180 for 6+ months now and it still ain't ready
to fly....).
That being said, I thought the Manifold Pressure gauge on
the '53 B model 170 I used to fly was at least a somewhat
useful instrument. You couldn't hurt the engine no matter
what else you did as long as you kept the MP gauge in the
green.
Bela P. Havasreti
'54 C-170B N170BP
nearest airport with gas.
I get nervous if the wing-root tank needles dip into
the red (0-1/4 fuel remaining).
Needless to say, I'm a big chicken when it comes to fuel
reserves....
Somebody I know wrecked a good 180 awhile back
by running out of gas 1/2 mile from the intended
destination/airport (we've been repairing / working
on said 180 for 6+ months now and it still ain't ready
to fly....).
That being said, I thought the Manifold Pressure gauge on
the '53 B model 170 I used to fly was at least a somewhat
useful instrument. You couldn't hurt the engine no matter
what else you did as long as you kept the MP gauge in the
green.
Bela P. Havasreti
'54 C-170B N170BP
Harold
For what it's worth I fly an EIFP5L fuel management unit in my C182 work plane and a bar graph anayzer in the C206 work plane. Both are nice units and give endurance in hrs at varied power settings at the touch of a button. I find them both to be very accurate verified by tank dipping as long as the transducer is properly calibrated. Don't think I want one on my C170B panel though. Sharing the opinions of other writers I feel the fuel management in the 170 to be a simple affair and I wish to keep it that way.
RB
For what it's worth I fly an EIFP5L fuel management unit in my C182 work plane and a bar graph anayzer in the C206 work plane. Both are nice units and give endurance in hrs at varied power settings at the touch of a button. I find them both to be very accurate verified by tank dipping as long as the transducer is properly calibrated. Don't think I want one on my C170B panel though. Sharing the opinions of other writers I feel the fuel management in the 170 to be a simple affair and I wish to keep it that way.
RB
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Harold Holiman
- Posts: 579
- Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2002 1:54 pm
RB,
My plane is a 180. I was asking about the Fuel Mizer because it has features simular to your EI-FP-5 or a JPI-450 for way less money. As of late, a lot of 180/185 owners are installing the JPI-450 in their planes. Even if I install one (any of the three mentioned here) of the units in my plane, I will still use physically checking the fuel quanity and time as my main fuel management method. However, one would be nice to have. What would you say is the main advantage of having the EI-FP-5 in your 182? I have never flown with one.
Harold
My plane is a 180. I was asking about the Fuel Mizer because it has features simular to your EI-FP-5 or a JPI-450 for way less money. As of late, a lot of 180/185 owners are installing the JPI-450 in their planes. Even if I install one (any of the three mentioned here) of the units in my plane, I will still use physically checking the fuel quanity and time as my main fuel management method. However, one would be nice to have. What would you say is the main advantage of having the EI-FP-5 in your 182? I have never flown with one.
Harold
Harold
I lied.... after looking I see that the fuel gauge in the C182 is a JPI-450 and it works well. I have an IO470 upgrade in the 182 making it a nice ship with plenty of spunk at low elevations. The advantages as mentioned were that I can set the unit on scan then at a glance (no button touching) read off fuel used/remaining and endurance. If you always fly the same (criuse) power settings then this is somewhat redundant since you likley know endurance in your head but in my gig I regularly operate at other than normal power settings depending on weight/wind/mission objectives etc so say at 17"MP I can see that I have say 4hr left vs 2.75 at 23"MP. Takes one mental excercise out of the loop. The bar graph in the 206 does the same thing but to me it simply replaces one mental exercise with another(interpreting/setting the graphics).
I lied.... after looking I see that the fuel gauge in the C182 is a JPI-450 and it works well. I have an IO470 upgrade in the 182 making it a nice ship with plenty of spunk at low elevations. The advantages as mentioned were that I can set the unit on scan then at a glance (no button touching) read off fuel used/remaining and endurance. If you always fly the same (criuse) power settings then this is somewhat redundant since you likley know endurance in your head but in my gig I regularly operate at other than normal power settings depending on weight/wind/mission objectives etc so say at 17"MP I can see that I have say 4hr left vs 2.75 at 23"MP. Takes one mental excercise out of the loop. The bar graph in the 206 does the same thing but to me it simply replaces one mental exercise with another(interpreting/setting the graphics).
Hey, Harold! Tell me your cruising power settings, and send me only half of the $299 and whenever you like, you can simply call me and ask me what your fuel burn is. If you tell me when you last filled up I'll even tell you how much endurance you have remaining. You can even save more money if you email me to save long distance fees. 
I keep a small spiral notebook in the glove box. When I fill up, I write down the date, tach reading, price and qty of fuel to fill up. Anytime I want to know how much fuel is onboard, I just subtract the last fillup tach reading from the current one to see how many hours I've operated. 3.5 hours leaves me a 1 hour reserve.
My notebook also keeps me informed about how much fuel costs are, and where, and how much oil I've burned, etc. etc. Come tax time, it's all there for the record.
I keep a small spiral notebook in the glove box. When I fill up, I write down the date, tach reading, price and qty of fuel to fill up. Anytime I want to know how much fuel is onboard, I just subtract the last fillup tach reading from the current one to see how many hours I've operated. 3.5 hours leaves me a 1 hour reserve.
My notebook also keeps me informed about how much fuel costs are, and where, and how much oil I've burned, etc. etc. Come tax time, it's all there for the record.
'53 B-model N146YS SN:25713
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention.
An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons.
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention.
An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons.
Fuel Flow Gauges
My 170A has a fuel flow gauge in it. It is one of the more useful safety instruments in the plane. It is a JPI instrument and provides a plus or minus 1 gal fuel burn accuracy.
I ended up putting it in the 170 due to an intersting landing experience in Sun Valley, ID. I was coming out of the wildnerness area of Idaho on turbulent day and was not certain how much gas was remaining due to the constant power changes. So to be safe I stopped for fuel, and due to the turbluent conditions had a interesting landing experience; going straight down the runway and skipping sideways as a result of the cross wind and turbulence. When the gas total came, I could have made it back with no problem. So I got the 170 one of the fuel flow guages and have been very pleased with it.
My thoughts and opinions on the subject
I ended up putting it in the 170 due to an intersting landing experience in Sun Valley, ID. I was coming out of the wildnerness area of Idaho on turbulent day and was not certain how much gas was remaining due to the constant power changes. So to be safe I stopped for fuel, and due to the turbluent conditions had a interesting landing experience; going straight down the runway and skipping sideways as a result of the cross wind and turbulence. When the gas total came, I could have made it back with no problem. So I got the 170 one of the fuel flow guages and have been very pleased with it.
My thoughts and opinions on the subject