Fuel Policy and Fuel Monitoring — Page 32, Lesson 45

I want to walk you through a real-world document that sits at the heart of every commercial flight you'll ever plan or monitor: a computer-generated flight plan. This particular one is for a Boeing 757, callsign JD105, flying from London Gatwick, EGKK, to Frankfurt, EDDF. Let's read it line by line. Right at the top, line 1, we have the plan number: PLAN 6340. Below that, the route: EGKK to EDDF, aircraft type 757B, and the engine model M80/F. The date is the 30th of September 1992. Line 2 tells us this is a nonstop computed flight plan, generated at 1145 Zulu time for an estimated time of departure, ETD, of 1830 Zulu. The wind and temperature data used are from the 3000 Zulu forecast — that's the "PROGS 30000Z" notation. Now look at the fuel and time summary, starting at line 3. All fuel quantities are in kilograms. The first row, POA EDDF, is the planned fuel to the destination airport, Frankfurt. That's 3091 kilograms, with a time of 55 minutes, covering a distance of 362 nautical miles. The arrival time is 1925 Zulu. Then we see the takeoff weight: 77,390 kilograms. The landing weight at destination: 74,299 kilograms. The available payload, AVPLD, is 12,500 kilograms. And the operational weight, OPNLWT, is 58,638 kilograms. Next, line 5: the alternate airport is EDDL, Düsseldorf. The fuel to the alternate is 1485 kilograms, taking 24 minutes, covering 101 nautical miles, arriving at 1949 Zulu. The "COMP M015" notation means the computer used a 15-minute holding fuel calculation for the alternate — that's a standard planning assumption. Line 6: holding fuel, HLD, is 1521 kilograms for 30 minutes. That's the fuel you need to hold at the alternate if you can't land immediately. Line 7: contingency fuel, CON, is 155 kilograms for 3 minutes. That's a small buffer for unforeseen changes. Line 8: the required fuel, REQ, is the sum of all these: 6252 kilograms, giving a total time of 1 hour 52 minutes. This is the fuel you must have on board before engine start. Line 9: extra fuel, XTR, is zero — no additional fuel carried beyond the requirement. Line 10: total fuel, TOT, is also 6252 kilograms, 1 hour 52 minutes. So the total equals the required fuel here. Now the route description, line 11: the departure from Gatwick uses the DVR6M standard instrument departure, then airway UG1 to the NTM VOR, then the NTM1A standard arrival into Frankfurt. Line 12 gives wind data: the wind at the planned altitude is 029 degrees true at 40 knots. There's a maximum crosswind component of 5 knots, and a temporary wind of 01 knot from 0337 degrees — that's a minor variation. Line 13: the planned cruising flight level is FL370, 37,000 feet. Lines 14 through 16 show fuel and time comparisons for different flight levels using Long Range Cruise, LRC, technique. At FL370, 3091 kilograms and 56 minutes. At FL330, 3180 kilograms and 57 minutes — slightly more fuel and time. At FL410, 3111 kilograms and 55 minutes — slightly less time but more fuel than FL370. So FL370 is the most fuel-efficient option. Line 17: Gatwick's elevation is 202 feet above mean sea level. Now we enter the detailed route log, starting at line 18. The columns are: airway, waypoint, magnetic track, distance flown, zero wind distance, ZD, zero wind time, ZT, estimated time of arrival, ETA, actual time of arrival, ATA, cumulative time, CT, wind component, ground speed, distance remaining, DSTR, and fuel remaining, REM. Line 20: the first waypoint is DVR, on the DVR6M departure. The magnetic track is 092 degrees, distance 68 nautical miles, zero wind time 11 minutes, cumulative time 11 minutes. Wind component is not shown yet. Ground speed is not shown. Distance remaining is 294 nautical miles. Fuel remaining is not shown in this excerpt but would be in the full log. Line 22: top of climb, TOC, on airway UG1. Track 097, distance 14 nautical miles, zero wind time 2 minutes, cumulative time now 13 minutes. Distance remaining 289, fuel remaining 46 kilograms? Wait — that 0046 is likely fuel remaining in hundreds of kilograms, so 4600 kilograms remaining. But let's read the numbers as given: 0046 means 4600 kilograms remaining. Line 24: KONAN waypoint. Track 097, leg distance 10 nautical miles, zero wind time 1 minute, cumulative time 14 minutes. Wind component is 27045 — that's wind from 270 degrees at 45 knots, giving a positive component of P045, meaning a 45-knot tailwind. Ground speed is 502 knots. Distance remaining 270 nautical miles, fuel remaining 4500 kilograms. Line 26: KOK waypoint. Track 097, leg distance 25 nautical miles, zero wind time 3 minutes, cumulative time 17 minutes. Wind 26041, tailwind component P040, ground speed 497 knots. Distance remaining 245, fuel remaining 4300 kilograms. Line 28: REMBA. Track 108, leg distance 90 nautical miles, zero wind time 11 minutes, cumulative time 28 minutes. Wind 27030, tailwind P028, ground speed 488 knots. Distance remaining 155, fuel remaining 3800 kilograms. Line 30: NUVIL. Track 109, leg distance 24 nautical miles, zero wind time 3 minutes, cumulative time 31 minutes. Wind 27025, tailwind P024, ground speed 485 knots. Distance remaining 131, fuel remaining 3600 kilograms. Line 32: SPI. Track 110, leg distance 4 nautical miles, zero wind time 1 minute, cumulative time 32 minutes. Wind 27025, tailwind P024, ground speed 485 knots. Distance remaining 127, fuel remaining 3600 kilograms. Line 34: LARED. Track 131, leg distance 9 nautical miles, zero wind time 1 minute, cumulative time 33 minutes. Wind 28025, tailwind P020, ground speed 481 knots. Distance remaining 118, fuel remaining 3600 kilograms. Line 36: top of descent, TOD. Track 131, leg distance 7 nautical miles, zero wind time 1 minute, cumulative time 34 minutes. Wind 28025, tailwind P021, ground speed 481 knots. Distance remaining 111, fuel remaining 3500 kilograms. Line 38: NTM VOR. Track 131, leg distance 30 nautical miles, zero wind time 6 minutes, cumulative time 40 minutes. Wind data is blank — likely because you're descending. Distance remaining 81, fuel remaining blank in this excerpt. Line 40: EDDF, Frankfurt, via the NTM1A arrival. Track 089, leg distance 81 nautical miles, zero wind time 16 minutes, cumulative time 55 minutes. Distance remaining zero, fuel remaining 3200 kilograms. Line 42: Frankfurt's elevation is 364 feet. Lines 43 through 46 give the coordinates of each waypoint in degrees and minutes. For example, Gatwick is N51°08.9' W000°11.3', DVR is N51°09.7' E001°21.7', and so on. Line 47: the flight information regions, FIRs, you'll pass through: EBUR for 14 minutes, then EDDU for 36 minutes. Lines 48 through 56 are the ICAO flight plan format. Line 48: the flight plan identifier, FPL-JD105-IN. Line 49: aircraft type B757, equipment M/SXI/C — that's the navigation and communication equipment codes. Line 50: departure aerodrome EGKK at 1830 Zulu. Line 51: the route, N0457F370 — that's a Mach number of 0.457 at FL370 — then the route via DVR6M, DVR, UG1, NTM, NTM1A. Line 52: destination EDDF with an estimated elapsed time of 55 minutes, alternate EDDL. Line 53: estimated elapsed times to FIR boundaries: EBUR at 14 minutes, EDDU at 36 minutes. Line 54: aircraft registration GBDKC, SELCAL code JDHC. Line 55: endurance 1 hour 52 minutes, passengers 121, and other codes for radio, survival equipment, life jackets, dinghies, and the aircraft colour: 150C yellow. Line 56: the aircraft colour scheme: white and blue. This flight plan is your complete fuel and time budget, your navigation log, and your official filing with air traffic control — all in one document. Every number tells you something about the fuel you need, the time you'll take, and the route you'll fly.