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EASA PPL study materials
EASA PPL study resources

EASA PPL: Flight Performance and Planning

EASA PPL · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

Flight Performance and Planning

Flight Performance and Planning tests whether a planned flight is legal, safe and within the aircraft's limits. It combines mass and balance, take-off and landing performance, fuel planning and the practical use of a navigation log.

Mass, balance and performance

  • MTOM, MLM and MZFM must not be exceeded. The centre of gravity must remain within the forward and aft limits for take-off, flight and landing.
  • Forward CG increases stability but can reduce elevator authority and increase stall speed; aft CG reduces stability and can make recovery from a stall more difficult.
  • Performance depends on pressure altitude, temperature, wind, runway slope, surface and obstacle clearance. Density altitude is pressure altitude corrected for temperature.
  • Use the aircraft flight manual for take-off and landing distances; do not mix figures for different flap settings or surfaces.

Fuel planning

  • Fuel required normally includes taxi fuel, trip fuel, contingency, alternate fuel where applicable, final reserve and any extra fuel.
  • Under Part-NCO, day VFR final reserve is typically 30 minutes at holding speed at 1,500 ft above destination; night VFR is typically 45 minutes. Always use the figure specified in the flight manual or operator documentation for the planned flight.

Worked example

A trip takes 2 h 30 min at 32 L/h. Reserve is 45 min and taxi fuel is 5 L. Trip fuel = 2.5 x 32 = 80 L. Reserve = 0.75 x 32 = 24 L. Total = 80 + 24 + 5 = 109 L. At 0.72 kg/L that is about 78.5 kg. If the fuel load is limited to 100 L, the plan must be changed or the flight rejected.

Traps that cost marks

Do not mix litres, US gallons and kilograms without converting density. Do not use still-air figures for a runway with a tailwind or upslope. Check whether the CG is outside limits after loading baggage, not only whether the mass is below MTOM. A forward CG can increase the take-off run and landing distance. Reserve fuel is not available for planning the trip.

Key points

  • MTOM, MLM and MZFM are separate limits; CG must stay within limits throughout the flight.
  • Forward CG increases stability and stall speed; aft CG reduces stability.
  • Performance varies with density altitude, wind, slope, surface and obstacles; use the flight manual.
  • Fuel plan: taxi + trip + contingency + alternate + final reserve + extra fuel.
  • Day VFR final reserve is commonly 30 min, night VFR 45 min, subject to the applicable documentation.
  • Convert fuel volume to mass using the correct density before completing mass and balance.