A glider tow pilot of a PA25 pawnee landed with less fuel than required by far.

Attributes
ACN	956325
Time
Date	201106
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	PA-25 Pawnee
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Landing
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Glider Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 65 Flight Crew Total 4800 Flight Crew Type 460
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural FAR Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue

Narrative:

I landed with insufficient fuel. I missed a pre-takeoff checklist item twice (on previous flight and this one). My routine is to decide to get fuel before the next tow if I start the current tow with between 9 and 11 gallons left and get fuel right away if there is less than 9 gallons left. The fuel gage in this airplane is accurate and part of my pre-takeoff check for each tow. My secondary method is the tach-time; which was not used this time as I did not know the tach-time of the previous fueling.possible contributing factors were: 1) busy operation; 2) hot dry weather/ dehydration; 3) emotional distress due to a tragic event in a close friend's life. 4) possibly higher fuel burn due to new engine.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A glider tow pilot of a PA25 Pawnee landed with less fuel than required by FAR.

Narrative: I landed with insufficient fuel. I missed a pre-takeoff checklist item twice (on previous flight and this one). My routine is to decide to get fuel before the next tow if I start the current tow with between 9 and 11 gallons left and get fuel right away if there is less than 9 gallons left. The fuel gage in this airplane is accurate and part of my pre-takeoff check for each tow. My secondary method is the tach-time; which was not used this time as I did not know the tach-time of the previous fueling.Possible contributing factors were: 1) busy operation; 2) hot dry weather/ dehydration; 3) emotional distress due to a tragic event in a close friend's life. 4) possibly higher fuel burn due to new engine.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.