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Fuel Planning Terminology


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F70100
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Full disclosure: I'm coming back to VFR from 25 years of airline flying so by all means take all this with a pinch of salt.

I'm finding one of the terms used in SkyDemon to describe the various categories of fuel required for any particular flight somewhat misleading.

SkyDemon uses the term "Holding Time" fuel to describe what in IFR flying would be "Final Reserve" fuel. i.e. the quantity of fuel loaded which you hope never to have to burn. If it becomes apparent that an IFR flight will land with less than the full amount of Final Reserve fuel on board, it is expected that an emergency will be declared. IFR flight planning also requires a minimum of 30 minutes "holding fuel" to be carried, but this is fuel that you can use if required, and is in addition to Final Reserve fuel.

Part-NCO requires VFR flights to carry "minimum fuel reserves", and this is analogous to "final reserve" in IFR.

I respectfully suggest that the term "Holding Time" be changed to "Minimum Fuel Reserves" to emphasise the point that this fuel is the last drop available, and align the terminology with Part-NCO. If fuel is required for "holding", it might more appropriate to account for it separately, or even add it to the contingency fuel.

I'm new around here; not trying to change the world, just thinking out load really.

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lhe
lhe
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I second the suggestion by F70100. With a change of part-NCO the other year, it is clear from EASA regs that "Final reserve fuel" applies to both VFR and IFR. This is an amount that must be in the tanks after landing. If any parts of this reserve gets used in flight, it is an automatic emergency.

Of course holding fuel and contingency fuel are still relevant, but the pilot should be able to specify at least the holding fuel for each flight separately.

I see that over the years there have been suggestions in this forum to allow for separate entries of contingency fuel, holding fuel and extra/discretionary fuel (fuel that the pilot for other reasons considers necessary in addition to the other amounts of fuel). That would be a good idea, too. As it is I have to keep track of these manually during flight planning.

GO

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F70100 - 10/12/2020 4:42:58 PM
marioair - 12/16/2023 8:20:59 AM
lhe - 7/21/2024 5:13:40 PM
Tim Dawson - 7/22/2024 9:00:39 AM
F70100 - 7/22/2024 9:16:48 AM
lhe - 7/22/2024 9:39:03 AM
grahamb - 7/22/2024 10:54:14 AM
                     There are two different but related issues. - That the pilot...
lhe - 7/23/2024 4:44:18 PM
F70100 - 7/23/2024 5:16:26 PM
Tim Dawson - 7/25/2024 9:02:53 AM
lhe - 7/25/2024 12:45:16 PM
grahamb - 7/25/2024 1:38:33 PM
lhe - 7/25/2024 1:45:23 PM
                         I've quoted the regs exactly as they are. Ask our CAA what they mean!...
grahamb - 7/25/2024 2:50:46 PM
                             Both those scenarios make the case for separate fuel allocations:...
F70100 - 7/25/2024 4:11:42 PM
                                 Actually they do. The relevant parts of NCO.OP.125: The...
lhe - 7/30/2024 8:53:24 AM
Tim Dawson - 7/29/2024 9:21:10 AM

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