Until now, I've been of the opinion that the act of taking less fuel on a flight as a result of relying on forecast tailwinds, is asking for trouble.However, after reading Darren's suggestion, I've changed my mind. Many have asked for the ability to enter tailwinds into the fuel planner, but Darren is the first to indicate that there are destinations in this world where the tailwinds are common enough, reliable enough, and strong enough to cause the aircraft to be over maximum landing weight if the amount of fuel boarded is not reduced accordingly.Since in the real world I only fly aircraft where winds that strong would allow me to "fly" my aircraft backwards, the possibility of tailwinds having the above effect on fuel consumption simply never occurred to me. :)So, I've released version 1.3.1, which adds a dropdown box to indicate if the entered winds are a tailwind or headwind. The wind adjustment figure will be indicated as a negative value if the winds are a tailwind. The adjusted total air miles figure will be increased or decreased accordingly, as will the projected enroute fuel consumption figure, of course.Download the new version here:http://www.metacraft.com/737NGFP/Thanks Darren!

Hi Ross and big thanks for the update!Have one question that I think has been up before, would it be possible to let the 'Alternate' distance be optional? Must admit I'm not always planning for might having to go to an alternate airfield...;-)

Hehe ... maybe it's time you start planning for an alternate! Even if you don't plan for it, you can at least include the fuel for it. :) If you really don't want to carry the extra fuel, then you could consider the alternate fuel as holding or reserve fuel, and set the other (holding or reserve) to zero.

OK, well...maybe it's time start following real procedures ;-)Take care Ross and thanks again for your great planner!

Thank you Ross,Wonderful job !MartialLFST

G'day RossMan that was fast!!We now have a pretty awesome fuel planner courtesy of yourself,thanks very much.Most impressive indeed.Thanks againDarren

Many thanks for the updated fuel planner Ross.

Hi Ross,Thanks very much for your fine work in benefit of this simm community.Dirk Trotteyn (SANT)

I have 2 Questions to the Fuel Planner.Why i cant select even Flightlevels for Cruising, i see only odd FL!How many fuel is common for Holding and Taxi?Thx guys,regards

>I have 2 Questions to the Fuel Planner.>Why i cant select even Flightlevels for Cruising, i see only>odd FL!>>How many fuel is common for Holding and Taxi?>Thx guys,>>regardsIn the USA at least, there are no even flight levels for cruising above FL290, as separation there is currently 2000 feet between opposing directions.280 is the only "legal" westbound even cruising flight level.In a few years, RVSM (Reduced Vertical Separation Minimums) will be possible in the US domestic airspace, and the 2000 foot spacing at or above FL 290 will be eliminated. However, there are additional equipment requirements to participate.

Re fuel needed for taxi, it depends on the distance between your parking/gate and the active runway, but there is a 2 to 3 minute separation between a/c for wake issues (especially if you're a Cessna 172 and you have a 747 in front of you). That explains the lines at JFK when you have 30 planes waiting for t/o. Plan one hour of taxi fuel for that.Re flight levels, the vertical separation is due to the barometric precision of the altimeter. As more and more a/c have TCAS and GPS altitude readouts, 1,000 sep feet should be plenty.Or, you can fly above FL450 and then not have to worry about it :)