Actually had this happen when I just took off for a round around the field. I had 10 gallons each side, but when I turned upwind the engine quiet, and so did my heart pfffff…one of my more scariest moments in my flying.

So lessons learned, 10 gallons not enough for take off…..as you will un port the engine very rapidly. My remedy on this event was a short prayer, level the plane, make sure fuel pump was on and check for fuel selector, he couched and puffed and was back alive, and so was my heart LOL

== Ronald

This happened early on (15 yrs ago) to me once when I let the co-pilot fly in tight circles. He was not looking at the turn coordinator and we were thus uncoordinated, with about 15GA in the left tank at the time.

Fix: Obviously, be stringent about centering the ball. Also, I now make it a habit to start the engine on one tank, then warm it up on the other, just to make sure both lines are primed and filled with fuel before takeoff. I have put this procedure in my start check list…

Dear subscribers,

I noticed a phenomena on my 4P that I thought might be worth sharing to see if it is unique or may be others experienced something similar:

When my ball is significantly out of center over a longer period of time (>30 sec), my fuel selector is on left, and I have less than 15 gals in my left tank my engine will quit due to fuel starvation.

Ralf