Fuel Management

Flying to/ from the UK  and airports in the Mediterranean often does not require the centre tank to be filled at all. 100% fuel in the wing tanks is normally enough. Each time you fly make a record of the fuel onboard at the time you start to taxi. Then when parked at the destination take another fuel reading. Also from these two figures you can work out how much fuel you burned. Do this for every type of aircraft. Record your flight times and find out the distance flown. From this you can then get very professional in picking the correct amount of fuel to load. You can then build yourself a nice database for quick reference on the fuel burn. Work out contingency fuel for weather etc.

Airline policy is to land at all times with at least one hours fuel in the tank. Also note how much fuel you burn in a holding pattern. Allow for 45 minutes delay. By keeping a fuel log for each flight you can then make a graph chart up. A 747 is normally expected to land with 20 tons of fuel still on board.

Make sure you untick the continuous fuel box.

Conversions

Just to get you started a Gallon of Jet Fuel weighs  7.9 lbs  or  3.6 kgs  

 1 gallon = 4.5 Litres

1LB = .45 KGS  (work on .5 then all you have to do is half the pounds for a quick mental guide)

1 kilo = 2.2 Lbs

1000 Kgs = 1 Metric Ton

2000 Lbs is one short ton

2240 lbs = 1 Long Ton 

1 Imperial gallon = 1.2 US Gallons  which = 4.5 Litres   which weighs 7.9 Lbs or 3.6 Kilos. 

Convert Formulas 

Litres to Imp Gallons  - Litres X 0.22

Litres to US Gallons = Litres X 0.2642

For example  the maximum fuel on a 747 is 

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