I find that for questions regarding when a pilot should inspect the fuel system for water contamination, the regulations themselves and questions in Bob Tait book are so contradicting. There is another topic on this but I felt I should make this post to sum things up.


CASR 91.465: The operator and pilot in command of an aircraft for a flight each contravene this subregulation if, before the flight begins, the operator or pilot in command does not ensure that the aircraft has been fuelled with fuel that is not contaminated, degraded or inappropriate.

VFRG v8 top of page 212: "before the start of each day’s flying, and after each fuelling"

ADVISORY CIRCULAR AC 91-25v1.1 issued on August 2023, page 9: It is recommended as a minimum, that the aircraft be checked prior to the first flight of the day, after each fuelling, and always after taking on board fuel that has potential to be contaminated with water.

Bob Tait PPL volume 1 page 291: How and when should a fuel system inspection be carried out? Before each flight begins.
Bob Tait PPL volume 1 page 311 Q5: The fuel system must be inspected for the presence of water before starting the engine.
Bob Tait PPL volume 1 page 371 Q38: When must a fuel system inspection be carried out? before every flight
Bob Tait PPL volume 2 page 400 Q16: When is the pilot in command required to inspect and test the aircraft’s fuel system for the presence of water? before the first flight of each day and after each refuelling.


So which one is it? "Before each flight" or "prior to the first flight of the day and after each fuelling"? Natually the prior includes the later like Bob suggested in the other post, but not the other way around, they can't both be right.

The current version of the VFRG (page 036 second paragraph) says the check should be made "before your next flight". For many years the documents said "before each flight and after each refueling'. Now there seems to be no specific mention of 'after each refueling'. As I mentioned earlier, if you do the check 'before each flight' you would have to be covered for any flight after refueling as well. As far as I can see, 'before each flight' is a correct answer to the question and 'after each refueling' is superfluous.

In the case of refueling with AVTUR, it would be better to employ a chemical test for the presence of water because the specific gravity of AVTUR is much closer to that of water, making it more difficult to visually detect the presence of water (especially just after refueling).

I welcome any further comments.