The Rough Guide to Fuel Planning

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RAF_Quantum
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The Rough Guide to Fuel Planning

Post by RAF_Quantum »

Hi Guys,

I noticed recently that a few of the fleet aircraft had very little in the way of fuel remaining in the tanks. On some aircraft there probably wouldn't have been sufficient for a go-around followed by another instrument approach. Some of the aircraft hadn't flown for some considerable time and consequently some of those pilots are no longer with us.

Our policy is that the unlimited fuel feature of Flight Simulator is OFF so fuel planning is therefore very important. For those less experienced crew who are new to the VA experience and have never had to think about fuel planning before then this is just a little reminder about how your departure fuel requirement should be calculated. In real life each airline may have it's own slightly different fuel policy so this may differ slightly from what you may have read or be told by someone else so is a rough guide for you to work with.

Block Fuel How much fuel you anticipate to use for your flight taking into consideration the weather (wind) conditions.
Reserves 5% of block fuel + 45 minute holding fuel + Diversion fuel
Unuseable Fuel Some aircraft have an amount of fuel that cannot be used e.g. VC10

Your minimum fuel for departure should be the sum of the Block Fuel + Reserves + Unuseable Fuel.

Rgds

John
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silver-fox
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Post by silver-fox »

:think: that looks good but doesent mean anything to me m8 ,i use a rule of thumb by seeing wot fs says and doubling it and adding 200 kg worked so far for me ,some of us dont know alot about planes and fueling ,just fly for fun
not trying to be cocky or smart just saying it from someone that flys va for for a hobby and a past time
yours karl

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DaveB
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Post by DaveB »

Hi Karl,

That's fair enough but.. what John is saying is don't leave an aircraft dry as it undoubtedly dumps on another pilot. If you want to use your rule of thumb, okey doh but it would help if you leave in it what was there when you picked it up.. just add your rule of thumb figure to what's there already :wink:

ATB

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silver-fox
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Post by silver-fox »

:redface: i know wot ya saying dave but dry or full on last flight does it not all come off the income of cbfs on the start of the flight ,ie we all need to set fuel loads for a flight no matter wot amount we put in still comes of our overall earnings ,and cbfs
just a my way of thinking dont hit me 2 hard will yas :worried:
karl :doh:

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TSR2
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Post by TSR2 »

Hi Karl,

Nobody is saying it does come of cbfs, but the poor guy who has to pay for the next flight in that aircraft does. Its just a way of being fair to everyone, nothing to do with the airlines income. :wink:
Ben.:tunes:

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silver-fox
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Post by silver-fox »

:redface: but it all goes for cbfs in long run ,not saying its right just saying is it a problem if the aircraft u pick is dry ? im still lurning not being in cbfs long
karl :dunno:

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Post by TSR2 »

It doesn't make that much difference to cbfs Karl. Its just being polite. Its a bit like hiring a car and leaving it so empty the person you've hired in from can't even get it to the garage. The amount of money is not that much to the income of cbfs, its just good manners. :smile:
Ben.:tunes:

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Post by silver-fox »

:redface: rgr that

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DaveB
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Post by DaveB »

Hi Karl,

It's not a ticking off mate so don't think of it as one. John was careful to point out in his original post that the info he listed was for new members. It's all too easy to forget when you've done a zillion flights that all the things you listed and mentioned have since been lost in the mists of time so it's useful to blow the dust off every now and again.

Just think of it this way..
You might want to buy your own personal aircraft (which you're quite welcome to do) so.. every penny you earn on the flight is valuable. The more the flight makes, the larger your 15% income is so while you can make a good earner on one flight by running the aircraft low.. on the next one (if you use the same aircraft) you'll have to bang more fuel in which will cut down the total earnings of that flight and thus your personal earnings.
An example.. I recently picked up a Super VC10 at LHR with full tanks and made a killing for both me and the VA on the flight to Jeddah. Instead of running it down low (which for a VC10 is 7t).. I kept the fuel up for the remaining flights and on the last flight.. I made sure I landed somewhere with cheap gas and fuelled up with a fair bit more than I really needed. That particular SVC10 (GF) is now sitting at LHR 'available' with a little over 28t onboard. I made a few quid out of it (not that I need the dosh with 6 aircraft of my own).. the VA made a nice penny out of it and now the next pilot to use it will make a nice penny too. He may choose to run it down to 7t but the thing is, he will have made a few extra bucks as will the VA. Don't forget the fuel I put in only cost 1.12v$ltr and the 2200kg extra I put in is nothing to the extra I/we made on the first flight :wink:

You'll get the hang of it in time. It may not particularly bother you now but you find yourself automatically looking at ways to make each flight as profitable as you can as time goes on. It's another angle to FlyNET that can be explored :smile:

ATB

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Post by stegs »

I'm probably one of the worst offenders at bringing in aircraft on the fumes but if you are a regular on VA I don't think it makes much difference.
I've only come across a few flights where it is impossible to make money and these are long hauls from airports with expensive fuel costs.
Nearly all flights make a ridiculous amount of money due to the way Flynet is set up. I think the fueling up of aircraft correctly (like in the real world) is up to each pilot depending on the realism they want.

Just my opinion :worried:

Steve

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