Well ... having worked in Government acquisition for a few years ... Allow me to chime in with an idea ... The word "Fuel" has half as many letters than the word "Gasoline" to print on the gauge face. printing fewer letters would use half as much paint -- which may seem insignificant for an individual gauge, but over the entire production run may add up to something perhaps a little less insignificant. Couple that with other ways to economize production costs and you could realize some good cost reductions. It probably got somebody an "attaboy" for saying something in a paint cost meeting .. "Hey ... what if we put "Fuel" instead of "Gasoline" on the gauge face??" I could see silence descend around the table as a lot of raised eyebrows, index fingers to chins and looking at each other with intent looks went on until the head of the paint cost reduction committee said "Brilliant!" and they moved on.
Silly? May be, but I've seen major aircraft manufacturers and government acquisition reps wrestle over sillier things than that.
