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Fuel Planning 101


Writing this guide presented a special challenge for me. I wanted to ensure that it covered
enough detail to keep the casual flyers interested but at the same time be simple enough that new simmers
would be able to follow it. This was challenging and I will not be surprised if bits of this write up will
require revisions when I get to thick or to thin. I spent a good deal of time and effort researching to put
this together. The largest problem was that, as many of you will not be surprised to learn, in the flight
sim community there is an "expert" on every subject matter and not a one of them does this for a living. I
found the only way to overcome this problem was to go straight to the source. So it is with great
appreciation that I say "Thank you Capt. Dave" for helping me to construct this. You do this for a living,
the lives of all the passengers depend on your skills. The fact that you were kind enough to take the time
to assist me is most humbling indeed. I also want to thank each and every one of you who is reading this.
Before I joined PVA I plied the virtual skies with other virtual airlines but none of them gave me the
sense of family that I get here with all of you. It is for community, rather than personal gain, that I
decided to write this. By the way, don't try to use this for real flight. It is only a basic fuel planning guide
for flight sim. So, let us begin.

As any of us know planning for fuel is not just important so we can have a greater profit margin
reported on our PiReps; but, it is most important when you are on short final after a go-around having
fought headwinds the whole flight. So how do we overcome this? Three little words answer that
question; good fuel planning! The rest of this guide will be in a step by step format with notes as needed,
enjoy.

Fuel Per Hour
There are two basic pieces of information we need before figuring any math out. The first is to calculate
our fuel consumption per hour. This number can change depending on if the plane we are flying is
freeware or payware and even with payware there can be some variation. As simmers we must do the
best we can. Your plane may display the fuel consumption in one of several forms in the cockpit. It may
have fuel per hour, per minute, by kilograms, or by pounds. It is your plane so you should know where to
check to get the value. If you are flying an older plane or the gauges cannot be read as with some
freeware you will need to figure the fuel usage out yourself. Generally this means recording the fuel
either from the fuel panel in the plane or from the fuel tab in PVACARS. Then an hour later record the
fuel value again. Be sure to use the same source to avoid any discrepancies. Subtract the ending value
from the starting value to get the final fuel value. This will give you the fuel per hour [p/hr]. It would
also help out for you to divide this total by 60 (60 minutes in an hour) so that you can get the fuel per
minute [p/min] value. I use the p/min to do the actual math. You can always use the p/hr value. If you do
please remember 0.40 is not 40 minutes it is 24 minutes (0.40 * 60 = 24 min). So to recap:






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1. Record fuel at cruise = start fuel
2. Record fuel at cruise after 60 minutes = end fuel
3. Start fuel minus end fuel = fuel per hour (with all engines)
4. Fuel per hour divided by 60 = fuel per minute

Cruising (Ground) Speed
This value is simple enough so I will not go into detail with it. If you have a freeware plane or a payware
that did not come with a manual the best place to find the cruise speed is the internet. Just make sure you
are using the cruising speed and not the maximum speed. Keep in mind that depending on who made the
plane there could be variation in what the actual cruising speed turns out to be compared to the real plane.

Now that we have these two pieces of information we can proceed to the real stuff. Since the
Boeing 727 is my machine at this time I will be using it for reference. It consumes about 8,400 pounds of
fuel per hour which works out to 140 pounds of fuel per minute. My cruising speed is about 450knots.
Notice I said my cruising speed. The B727 cruises at around 500knots; however, since it does not have
an autothrottle and because I like to leave a little headroom for possible wind shifts I slow it down just a
touch. You will have to get a feel for what your cruise speed is with any given plane. Other factors that
will affect your cruise speed in planes without an autothrottle is the equipment you are using to control
thrust (keyboard, Saitek, CH Products) and how well calibrated that item is. The point is do not be
surprised if you make a flight and have to adjust your cruise speed.

1. Trip Time
Calculate the trip time by dividing the total distance by the cruising speed. Let us say my flight is from
KBIL to KDSM with a distance of 715NM. That would mean my trip time would be 95 minutes.
715NM / 450NM = 1.58 which is 95 minutes (0.58 of an hour is 35 minutes rounded plus the
hour equals 95)
--OR--
450NM / 60 min = 7.5 knots per minute
715NM / 7.5 = 95 min rounded (I prefer this as I like to work in minutes)

2. Trip Fuel
Multiply the trip time by the fuel burn per minute. This will give you the total fuel needed for the trip.
Using my values for the B727 with a trip time of 95 minutes that would mean I would need 13,300
pounds of fuel for the flight alone. Keep in mind there is more fuel needed but for only the flight 13,300
pounds should see me to the airport when my engines sputter out.
(95 min * 140p/min) = 13,300 pounds of fuel









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3. Reserves
We all need reserves, it is the rule. Actually there are three sets of rules depending on where you are
flying. For simplicity we are going to go with the FAA domestic 45 minutes of reserve. This is pretty
simple to figure. Just multiply 45 by fuel usage per minute. If you prefer to work in hours then multiply
0.75 (45 minutes) by fuel usage per hour and so on. Since I do like to work in minutes I will use those
values from now on. In my case this would mean my reserves are 6,300 pounds of fuel.
(45 min * 140p/min) = 6,300 pounds of fuel

4. Hold Time
It is a safe bet to plan for 15 minutes of hold time. Figuring this is a bit more complex then I will go over
here. Although I did say from the start that this would be a basic guide. Good enough for flight sim but
not for real flight. Just like reserve fuel this is simple to figure. Multiply 15 by fuel per minute. For my
flight here it would be 2,100 pounds of fuel.
(15 min * 140p/min) = 2,100 pounds of fuel

Note: Since this is flight sim you may not feel the need to load this fuel if you are flying offline. If you
use any sort of ATC (default, RC, VoxATC) you should load this to deal with anything from multiple
vector changes (default ATC) to delay vectors or being put in holding by one of the payware ATC
addons.

5. Taxi Time
Taxing is really dependent on the amount of AI traffic you have and the airport you are at. Fly online
with VATSIM or IVAO and the traffic there will affect this. A good rule of thumb is to plan for 15
minutes of fuel to taxi. You can do it like the professionals and taxi on one engine; but, they only do that
when it is safe. If you want to try this remember to divide your fuel per minute by the number of engines
on your plane. If you do not you will be loading the fuel needed to taxi on all engines. If you do not want
to taxi on one engine or if you are not able to because of equipment limits then don't worry. As virtual
pilots we are not going to be fired by the Founders for costing that few extra percentage points of profit.
For a 15 minute taxi my B727 needs around 2,100 pounds of fuel with all engines used to taxi.
(15 min * 140p/min) = 2,100 pounds of fuel

6. Captain's Fuel
There is no formula for this. It is basically a level of comfort fuel you load. The amount you use will
really depend on the plane you are making the flight with. I like to load 500 pounds Captain's fuel on the
B727. Over the course of flights with your plane you will get a feel for what makes you happy. If you
don't feel the need to load any Captain's fuel that is fine too.

7. Supplemental Fuel
This fuel load is a bit of a challenge to figure. Supplemental fuel is basically the fuel you load for a few
course changes, altitude changes, and any extra distance you add to avoid storms. Basically to plan for
any supplemental fuel needed you will have to figure ahead of time if there is a storm in your path and
how you plan to avoid it. For example if you there is a storm in your path you may want to plan to go
around it. After planning you see a diversion will add about 50NM to your trip then you will want to


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figure how much fuel will be needed to fly that extra 50NM. Since this is only flight sim we do not
usually need supplemental fuel. In the end it is your choice how to use this, you are the virtual pilot after
all. We are going to assume that there are no winds at all for this trip so we will not be loading any
supplemental fuel.

Now that we have all these basic fuel amounts we simply need to add them together to get our total fuel
load for the example trip. Adding these up shows that I will need to load 24,300 pounds of fuel.
13,300 trip fuel + 6,300 reserves + 2,100 hold time + 2,100 taxi time + 500 Captain's fuel =
24,300 pounds total fuel load

Weather and Fuel Planning
If you were to stop here and say enough-is-enough can I fly now or what; the answer would be yes. The
fuel calculations provided above are enough to see you through most any situation. You may be close to
empty depending on the headwinds but you should be fine in most every case. This next part is for those
who want to take it a little past basics. If you are reading past this point I assume you have a good
weather engine and can access the data for winds aloft in it.

In order to calculate the affects of winds on your plane all you need to know is the speed of the winds and
add that to your cruising speed if it is a tailwind. If it is a headwind you take the speed of the winds and
subtract it from your cruising speed. Once you have the new cruising speed just go back and punch that
value into step 1 to figure your new trip time. As you see it is not that difficult. The hardest part is
deciding if you will try to use the average wind speed over the entire trip or calculate by the hour. The
choice is yours and depends on how much work you want to do and how realistic you want to get. I
suggest calculating by the hour. It may be a bit more work but can save you from running dry on a 10
mile final.

In closing I want to thank all of you again for not only reading this but for giving me a reason to do the
research and write it in the first place. PVA would be nothing but another virtual airline if it were not for
each of you.

Final Thoughts
In FS your fuel burn rates and even fuel capacity may be different depending on which model you are
using, this can add some difficulty in your planning if the model you are using is not completely accurate.
On the PVA homepage if you go to General Information and then Fleet there will be a list of all
aircraft used at PVA (here). Clicking on one of these aircraft will take you to that aircrafts stats page
(example) which includes another link called Fuel Average. The Fuel Average screen will include
information about that aircrafts fuel burn averaged over all PVA flights using that aircraft, these averages
should give you a good estimate of the fuel burn average that you can expect with that type of aircraft.
Some of you may also be wondering about a few factors I have left out of the lesson. Let me see if I can
address them.

Q: What about the time it takes to climb and descend; why aren't you adding that to flight time?


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A: Those figures are pretty simple to come up with so feel free to calculate and add them to the flight time
if you want. I decided not to cover that aspect of fuel planning because this is a basic guide.

Q: What about the fuel I burn in climbing to my planned flight level?
A: Believe it or not if you fly the plane properly the fuel you use in climb out combined with the fuel you
save in descent comes out very close to the fuel you use at cruise. For flight sim and basic guide purposes
it is close enough.


Q: Does the amount of cargo/pax I carry affect the fuel I should plan for?
A: Yes, it does; however, planning for that will require detailed fuel usage charts for that one plane. You
should still be just fine using the above guide. If you know your plane will be loaded near MTOW and
you feel a bit nervous load a little extra as Captain's fuel.

Q: Do I need to carry extra fuel to account for the weight of the planned fuel?
A: Yes, again flight sim does factor this in; however, without detailed fuel usage charts for that one plane
you are flying this cannot be properly planned for. If you still feel the need to you can load about 10%
extra per 600 pounds of fuel for each hour of flight. Remember that after each hour you have to figure the
new fuel weight then calculate how much extra fuel is needed to carry that amount of fuel for the next
hour. Don't be surprised if after doing all of this math you land with more fuel left in the tanks then what
you planned for. This is after all a flight sim and the fuel burn will be affected by the accuracy of the
model of the plane you are using. You should be fine if you skip this aspect totally or you can load a little
extra as Captain's fuel.

Q: Won't I burn different amounts of fuel at different altitudes?
A: Yes, but do you really want to calculate all that? Think about it. This really shouldn't be a factor in a
well planned flight. If you still feel uneasy add a little extra Captain's fuel to that flight.

Q: You talk about headwind and tailwind but what about crosswinds?
A: This is a basic guide and I wanted to avoid going into that much detail. Honestly I debated including
that information in the first place and considered suggesting a generic value to plan for headwinds when
you are expecting them. By generic value I mean adding something along the lines of 20% of the trip fuel
added as supplemental fuel. So how do you figure the affects of crosswinds on cruising speed? That
requires a bit of a lesson where you will need a sheet of paper, a ruler, and a protractor then go to this
webpage and scan down till you find the section titled "The Famous Wind Triangle".
http://www.navfltsm.addr.com/basic-nav-plotcourse.htm

Q: Wow, that wind triangle example is giving me a headache to figure out. Is there another way I can get
the effect of crosswind that is easier?
A: Not really. The Wind Triangle is still the method used for today's pilots; however, there are E6B
website's that will do the math for you free of charge. If you are using an addon weather program such as
one of the Active Sky series of programs they should provide the crosswind component for you. Be sure
to load a flight plan and enter your ground speed then the program should provide you with your new


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ground speed after the crosswind is factored in. Here is a website that will do the wind triangle math for
you if you.
http://www.studentflyingclub.com/flight-planning.php

































All information contained in this document is for simulation use only and at no time should any information
contained in this document be used for aviation purposes. All information contained in this document is the
property of Phoenix Virtual Airways (PVA). It is NOT to be used for any purpose without prior written permission
from the founders of PVA.
http://www.phoenixva.org

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