FMC Insufficent fuel message

[saltypete 0]

Hi, I have just encountered a problem with the fuel page of the 747 FMC. I set up a flight from NZAA to KLAX and set the fuel to well over 2/3 full and entered 50.0 as my reserve. I constantly got an Insufficent fuel message. I then set the tanks to COMPLETELY FULL and the reserve to 99.9 and still got the same message repeatedly. What am i doing wrong? I have given up after 3 hours of trying to fix the problem.

[Chaos81 110]

You need to set the reserve at the amount of fuel you want to have left when you get that message.Say you want 10,000 pounds of fuel left, you would enter 10.0. Then at any point during the flight your fuel left at destination goes below 10,000 pounds, that message will come on.Your problem is you are setting it way too high, set it lower, then you will see it go away. Hope it helps, and sign your posts with your real name per forum rules.

[veldthui 0]

I had a similar problem. The FMC showed 12 tonne left when I took off and the reserve was set at 3 tonne. All of a sudden after 4 hours fly time I suddendly got warning messages about insufficient fuel. Checking the FMC showed that I would run out well short of KLAX and there was a lot of zeros. I decided to stick with it and see what happened when I really did get low on fuel. After another 2 hours the message went away and suddenly I had 20 tonne by the time I hit KLAX. Checked the winds to see if that was the issue but they seemed to be exactly the same all the time.Anyway I made it with heaps to spare but if it had been a real flight it would had been a worry.

[cowpatz 243]

The reserves are way too high. Are you using pounds or Kgs?A realistic figure would be 10 tonne depending on what alternate you are carrying for LAX...maybe 12.0 tonne.CheersSteve

[Chaos81 110]

Steve, I hope you don't mind, I sent you an email through the forum system.

[cowpatz 243]

No problem Mike. The system said I had a message but would not show it in the inbox. Can you send it again?CheersSteve

[saltypete 0]

Hi thanks to everyone for the help, the advice has helped me solve the problem and i have completed the flight without any worries. I have only owned the program for 4 days and already this forum has helped me on a couple of occasions. THANKS!!! your help is much appreciated!!!Pete Carlsen

[Chaos81 110]

Thanks Steve, I got your email. That was exactly what I was looking for. Thank you for your time. I did send a PM to you asking the same thing, as you said you didn't get it the first time, so you can just ignore that.Pete, glad you got everything figured out. :) Happy flying.

[Guest Spader]

Another thing to bear in mind is this: just because you get the 'Insufficient Fuel' message doesn't mean that you will run out of fuel. I set my reserves to 7.0, and I will get the message, but I will arrive at my destination with a little over 3.0 in each wing tank.