After starting up Flight Simulator, run the Fuel Planner. The program will
automatically recall the values you were working with the last time you ran it.
First, select the weight units you would like to use, pounds or kilograms, from
the dropdown list at the bottom right corner of the window.
Next, select your trip distance, cruising altitude, distance to your alternate
airport, and cruise altitude for the flight to the alternate, from the dropdown boxes in the upper-left corner of the window. Choose
the option that matches your trip the closest, rounding up.
Next, enter the average forecast winds during the enroute portion of your trip. Select
"Headwind:" or "Tailwind:" as appropriate.
The program will calculate the increased or reduced air miles that will be traveled as a
result of the winds. Also enter the forecast enroute temperature.
Next, press the "Read Payload Weight" button. This will read your
current settings for passenger and baggage weights via FSUIPC. The value should
appear in the list of weights along the right side of the window. Alternatively,
you can manually enter the total weight of passengers and cargo in the box provided.
Next, enter values for taxi fuel, holding fuel, and reserve fuel. Reference
the ATR documentation for good values to use here. You can enter only whole-pound or
whole kilogram amounts here, with no commas or decimal points.
At this point, you've entered all the information that is required. Each time you
change a value, the program recalculates the required fuel and resulting weights. If
any value exceeds the operating limitations for the selected aircraft, it will be shown
in red. The resulting fuel distribution among the wing tanks will be
shown in the boxes superimposed over the aircraft image at the top of the window.
When you are satisfied with the fuel load, press the "Board Fuel" button to
actually set the levels in each wing tank.
If you would like to print the data, press the "Print" button. This will send
the data to a script on this website which will format the data in HTML, suitable for
printing.
That's it! Feel free to
(Ross Carlson) with suggestions or comments. Enjoy!
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