Simviation Forums

I heard that trying to land a larger plane totally full of fuel is much harder and after trying to land the 737 about 4-5 times and landing short everytime Or should I say crash short. I tried it seemed to work.  I was wondering though how realistic is that In real life do
planes like a 737 etc... on a shorter trip only put half full or something or is it filler up evertime.  

Definetly DO NOT fill your tanks up fully, unless you are in a GA aircraft (Cessnas props etc.)

Anyways you should land with about 4-6000lbs of fuel...enough for your emergency airport and }I think 45 min. of holding time...I believe the 737 sucks down about 6000 lbs of few an hour give or take...

Some heavies actually have a higher maximum allowable takeoff weight than landing weight. This is usually not an inconvenience, as it's expected that most of the fuel will get used up en route. If they do have to go around and come back right after takeoff, they can "dump" excess fuel while circling (thru valves in the wings) until they are at a safe weight for landing.

For the most part, the larger planes usually land in areas of more than sufficient runway length.  Fuel does make longer runs, and i think different airlines and companies fill them up accordingly... im just guessing  ;)

First let me thank Nexus for this.  Now, here is a proper fuel calculation-

I'll use the last one I did as an example.  The only catch to these methods is that you MUST know the fuel flow of your aircraft at a certain altitude and speed.

I will be cruising at 32,000' in my MD-11, at M .81.  I have done testing on it in order to determine the fuel flow at this altitude/speed.

FF at M .81 is 6,800 PPH (Pounds per hour) X 3 (3 engines)

This means the FF will be, in total, 20,400 PPH.

Now, take that number, and multiply it by flight time.  I will be in the air for five hours and six minutes, or 5.1 hours (you MUST convert it to a decimal!)

So take 20,400 X 5.1 = 104,040 lbs.  This is my estimated FF at altitude.  Now just add the appropriate amount of reserve fuel, and you're golden.  For this flight, I add 40,000 lbs extra.  For a 737, something like 10,000 lbs should suffice.

If you need anything cleared up, just ask.