Tight On Fuel

Elaine Kauh

Thursday, December 16, 2021 at 09:43 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

IFR fuel planning for complex trips (max load, bad weather) is often more intricate than typical flights, requiring careful consideration beyond a standard one-hour reserve.
Meeting FAA IFR fuel regulations (§91.167) necessitates accounting for fuel to the destination, an approach, flight to and an approach at an alternate, plus a 45-minute reserve, which frequently demands more fuel than initially calculated.
Strictly adhering to minimum legal fuel requirements can be unsafe, as it often fails to account for real-world contingencies like multiple approaches, holding, or unexpected events.
A more practical and safer approach involves planning for significantly more than the minimum fuel, often by incorporating a strategic fuel stop, to ensure flexibility and reduce stress during challenging IFR conditions.

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That typical one-hour fuel reserve most of us use for personal flying works great, mainly ’cause we rarely need it. In most cases, there’s four-plus hours of fuel for a two-hour flight that includes an alternate just down the road. Use a (conservative) default fuel burn to estimate it, and you’re all set. But when loaded up to max weight for a long trip requiring IFR contingency planning, fuel can get tight. That’s when we’ll just stick a suitable fuel stop in the flight plan and go, right? Sure, unless the thought of making it non-stop can trigger symptoms of get-there-itis.

Perhaps you feel a fuel planning exercise coming on. If you do, you’d be correct, but stick with this—it’ll be interesting. Let’s start with the route: Rochester, New York, to Indianapolis Metropolitan.