Aviation Fuel Burn Calculator
Plan your flight fuel requirements from distance, TAS, fuel burn rate, and alternate fuel reserves.
Covers trip fuel, reserve, and alternate requirements.
Flight fuel planning
Every flight requires careful fuel planning. Regulatory minimums exist in most countries, but prudent pilots carry more than the legal minimum. Running out of fuel is one of the most preventable — and still surprisingly common — causes of aviation accidents.
Fuel calculation components
A complete fuel load calculation includes:
- Trip fuel: Distance ÷ Ground Speed × Fuel Burn Rate
- Reserve fuel: Regulatory reserve (typically 30–45 minutes at cruise burn)
- Alternate fuel: Fuel to fly to an alternate airport if destination is unavailable (typically 30–60 minutes at cruise burn)
- Taxi fuel: Fuel for ground operations (typically 5–15 minutes of burn)
- Contingency fuel: Extra buffer for unexpected headwinds or routing changes
VFR vs IFR minima
VFR day operations (FAA): must have enough fuel to destination plus 30 minutes reserve. VFR night operations (FAA): destination plus 45 minutes reserve. IFR operations: destination plus alternate plus 45 minutes reserve.
UK CAA and EASA have similar but slightly different requirements.
Fuel units
Aviation fuel is typically measured in US gallons (avgas, 100LL) or imperial gallons, with weight in pounds used in aircraft weight and balance calculations. AVGAS (100LL) weighs approximately 6 lbs per US gallon. Jet A weighs approximately 6.7 lbs per US gallon.
Ground speed vs TAS
Remember that fuel consumption is based on time, not distance. A 100 nm trip at 120 knots TAS takes 50 minutes. The same trip at 120 knots TAS with a 20-knot headwind takes 60 minutes and burns 20% more fuel. Always use ground speed for time calculations and TAS for fuel burn rate.