does any 1 no the proper way on how to work out how much fuel is needed for a flightthanks in advance

>does any 1 no the proper way on how to work out how much fuel>is needed for a flight>>thanks in advanceHi jimmer,Don't forget to sign your name. I assume you're referring to the 747-400 aircraft. If so, go to chapter 2 "Cruise and Fuel Planning" of the PMDG 747 manual. It shows you how to calculating the fuel required for your flight. There is a Boeing 747 Fuel Planner that you can download and you just enter the information it needs and it calculated the fuel for you. I would get version 2.01. But if you read chapter 2 "Cruise and Fuel Planning" in the PMDG 747 manual, you will understand what's taking place and how they go about calculting the fuel required. Hope this helps out.Ken.

Easiest way to do it would honestly be to load the flight plan into the FMC, initialize the performance calculations and then check the PROG page for the fuel remaining at your destination. Subtract this from your current total, add a bit more for reserve/diversion, and load that...

I agree. I tried planning a trip from SEQU to SLLP with both with FSbuild and FSNavigator. The PMDG FMC gave me a the most accurate fuel burn numbers. I was sight seeing up high, then down low. (In that neck of the woods, 20,000 feet baro can be just 3000 feet AGL!) The FMC's fuel estimates kept up with my every twist and turn.Once I was in the area of SLLP, RC decided to get actively involved in my approach. Ugh! By the time RC vectored me all over the universe in search of SLLP, I declared a fuel emergency. The FMC was telling me that I would have 500lbs (not 5000!) of fuel at SLLP. On a one mile final to El Alto airport, all the boost pump lights started coming on. I thought maybe some encouraging words would help, but started flaming out as I managed to glide to within 100 yards of the runway. The FMC was right on the money . . . well within 100 yards anyway . . . after a very touristy, 1200 mile flight. I'd say it did pretty well.

>I agree. I tried planning a trip from SEQU to SLLP with both>with FSbuild and FSNavigator. The PMDG FMC gave me a the most>accurate fuel burn numbers. >>I was sight seeing up high, then down low. (In that neck of>the woods, 20,000 feet baro can be just 3000 feet AGL!) The>FMC's fuel estimates kept up with my every twist and turn.>>Once I was in the area of SLLP, RC decided to get actively>involved in my approach. Ugh! By the time RC vectored me all>over the universe in search of SLLP, I declared a fuel>emergency. The FMC was telling me that I would have 500lbs>(not 5000!) of fuel at SLLP. On a one mile final to El Alto>airport, all the boost pump lights started coming on. I>thought maybe some encouraging words would help, but started>flaming out as I managed to glide to within 100 yards of the>runway. The FMC was right on the money . . . well within 100>yards anyway . . . after a very touristy, 1200 mile flight.>I'd say it did pretty well. Hi Sam,You got it pretty close, did you? I've used the 747 fuel planner but I really not sure just how accurate it calculates it. I seem to always arrive at the airport with 50,000lbs of fuel when I landed. Of course, this include a 40 to 45 minutes holding time. I figured most 747s arrive at the airport with only about 20,000 to 25,000lbs of fuel on board, inlcuding the 40 minutes holding time. I got in this situation just one time because I didn't add say 40 minutes holding time. I guess if you added the 40 minutes worth of fuel, you would of been safe. Did you make it to the runway? I didn't make it to the runway when it happend to me.Ken.

>Easiest way to do it would honestly be to load the flight>plan into the FMC, initialize the performance calculations and>then check the PROG page for the fuel remaining at your>destination. Subtract this from your current total, add a bit>more for reserve/diversion, and load that...Thanks Ryan for that tip. It makes it a little easier anyway. Do the real 747 pilots also use this tip other than getting the information from the flight dispatcher?Ken.