Fuel Calculation

[HeavyMetal]

How does one calculate the amount of fuel need for a flight??

I usually take off with a full load of fuel, but usually need to "dump" some before landing.  If Im flying the 737 from Vegas to LA I dont need a full tank. So how do I calculate how much I will need for a particular flight??

thanks

Speedbird_1961

[Travis]

If you use the flight planner, just click on "Flight Log" and it will show you everything from the distance to the amount of fuel (total) that you will need.  Everything that you could possibly want to do your flight.  You can even print it out so you don't have to worry about remembering it all.

[Meyekul]

Your flight planner should give you an estimate of fuel needed.  If you want to do it manually, its variable depending on aircraft, cruising speed, altitude, etc, and I have no idea where to start to explain that

[codered]

For FS, just use the flight planner.  It will give you an estimate of how much fuel you will need to make the trip.  This does not seem to take into account winds aloft, etc.  I usually take the total given in the flight planner and add enough for one extra hour.  In actual flight planning you have to be sure that you have enough fuel tomake it to your destination plus one hour or an alternate airport.

You don't always have to top off the tanks for every flight, unless you need it all.

[Travis]

The flight planner will plan the flight according to the aircraft that is currently selected.  If you have a 737 selected, you'll probably get a cruising altitude above 20,000 (guessing), whereas if you have a Baron in the window, you're gonna end up with a cruising altitude around 8500 ft or somewhere near that.  The fuel should be the same way.

[HeavyMetal]

ok, thanks guys, thats a big help

Speedbird_1961

[HeavyMetal]

ok i tried it and works great. A little more realistic. I flew from Salt Lake City to Denver with a fuel load of 1000 gallons and didnt dump any and just made it.

thanks

Speedbird_1961

[Skittles]

You could also try tinkering with this

http://www.anadrac.com/Flight/FFP.htm

It's a little thing I made for someone to do the same thing.

The Fuel Flow amounts are not accurate. If you want to find them for specific aircraft, you can enter them in.

Just an idea.

Joe