Fuel Planning and Fuel Management
Fuel planning and fuel management test the legal minimum fuel, the components of block fuel, and your ability to monitor and replan in flight. The exam expects turbine and piston differences, contingency rules and the meaning of MINIMUM FUEL and MAYDAY FUEL.
Fuel components
- Taxi fuel: APU, engine start and taxi.
- Trip fuel: take-off to landing at destination.
- Contingency: typically 5% of trip fuel for turbine, or an approved alternative, and not a reserve to be burned.
- Alternate fuel: destination to alternate, including missed approach.
- Final reserve: typically 30 min holding at 1,500 ft for turbine; 45 min for piston under many policies.
- Extra fuel: commander's discretion for weather, traffic or ATC.
Worked example
Trip 1,800 kg; contingency 5% = 90 kg; alternate 400 kg; final reserve 30 min at 1,200 kg/h = 600 kg; taxi 25 kg; extra 100 kg. Block fuel = 1,800 + 90 + 400 + 600 + 25 + 100 = 3,015 kg. At destination, if fuel remaining is 900 kg, you are above final reserve (600 kg) but below alternate plus final reserve (1,000 kg). You cannot divert to the planned alternate and still land with final reserve; declare MINIMUM FUEL and plan to land at destination unless conditions improve.
Traps
- Calculating contingency on block fuel instead of trip fuel.
- Treating final reserve as usable for diversion.
- Ignoring increased burn from anti-ice, APU or a lower cruise level.
- Not recording fuel checks at each waypoint.