It’s Called Consideration & Common Courtesy

by Dave Weiman
Published in Midwest Flyer Magazine December 2021/January 2022 Online Issue

The ladder provided at Price County Airport (KPBH) in Phillips, Wisconsin, is safe and convenient, compared to the flimsy aluminum ladders at most airports. Good, safe, and well-maintained self-serve fueling equipment attracts and deserves repeat business. Dave Weiman Photo

Consideration and common courtesy works both ways… Airports and fixed base operators need to provide self-serve fuel systems which are easy, convenient, and safe for pilots to use, and pilots need to be respectful and responsible of the equipment.
In the August/September 2019 issue of Midwest Flyer Magazine, we published an article entitled “Why The Size of Fuel Hoses On Self-Serve Systems Is So Important!” The article emphasizes the importance for airports with self-serve fuel systems to provide fuel hoses which are easy for pilots to use: https://midwestflyer.com/?p=12669
While large fuel hoses might be okay to use on low-wing aircraft, they are not okay to use on high-wing aircraft. And while large fuel hoses might enable airport personnel to transfer fuel from the pump to a fuel truck faster, they are not convenient for the customer fueling their own aircraft.

As pilots, we must do our part too. We need to be respectful of the fuel equipment to avoid damaging it, and when we line up behind other aircraft to fuel, we should shut down our engines so the pilot fueling ahead of us can hear the fuel filling in their tanks. Otherwise, the chance of over-filling is real. See you at the pumps!

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