ATPL Flight Planning cheat sheet

Trip fuel covers taxi-out, takeoff, climb, cruise, descent and approach to the destination; it excludes taxi-in and any diversion or holding.

Reserve fuel for a turbine aeroplane is contingency (5% of trip fuel, or 3% with a selected destination alternate) plus alternate fuel plus final reserve of 30 minutes holding at 1500 ft above the alternate.

Contingency fuel may be reduced to 3% only when a destination alternate is nominated; the alternate fuel must then be added separately.

Piston-engine final reserve is 45 minutes holding at 1500 ft above the destination or alternate; turbine final reserve is 30 minutes.

Additional fuel is added whenever the minimum required fuel would not allow a landing with final reserve intact after a failure at the most critical point.

Taxi fuel is planned from APU use, engine start, taxi time and average taxi burn; it is not part of trip fuel and is not protected by reserve.

Specific range = TAS / fuel flow (nm per kg); maximum range occurs where the tangent from the origin touches the fuel-flow-versus-speed curve.

Payload-range: below maximum takeoff mass the limiting factor is fuel volume; beyond it, payload is traded for fuel up to maximum landing mass limits.

Fuel density: mass = volume x density; Jet A-1 is planned at 0.785 kg/L unless the operator's actual density is used, so volume and mass must be reconciled before departure.

Operational flight plan contents: registration, type, departure/destination/alternates, route, masses, fuel figures, and the pilot-in-command's signature of acceptance.

Minimum takeoff fuel = taxi + trip + contingency + alternate + final reserve + additional + extra; any fuel below this figure is a reportable occurrence.

In-flight fuel management: if fuel on board at any point falls below the fuel required to reach the destination with final reserve, the crew must declare MINIMUM FUEL to ATC.

MAYDAY FUEL is declared when the calculated landing fuel would be less than final reserve, requiring priority handling.

Takeoff and landing mass limits: MTOW, MLW, MZFW and runway-limited masses must all be satisfied; the lowest of them governs the planned mass.

Performance-limited mass comes from runway length, obstacle clearance, climb gradient and brake energy; it may be lower than structural limits and must be checked for each runway.

Reduced contingency fuel (3%) requires a destination alternate; if no alternate is required, contingency is 5% of trip fuel.

Aircraft technical log and mass-and-balance documentation must be on board; the load sheet is valid only for the configuration and trim stated on it.

Alternate aerodrome weather minima must be checked at ETA; if the destination is forecast below minima at ETA plus 1 hour, an alternate is mandatory.