MC Fuel Planning GK

Question 1

Define HOLDING Fuel (4 Left)

Answer 1

Holding: For airland missions and the last segment of AR missions, LSK 4L is the display /entry of time and computed fuel for holding AT the applicable weather ALTN or AR ALTN.

This time defaults to 45 (00:45, maximum 23:59). Fuel is calculated using MCT EPR, 250 KCAS, 10,000 feet altitude, and +15 degrees C temperature deviation.

Question 2

Define ENROUTE Fuel (1 Right)

Answer 2

Enroute: For normal airland missions, this will be simply the time enroute from PPOS to destination along with the projected fuel consumption from crank to shutdown.

For AR segments, the first and intermediate pages’ ENROUTE fuel encompasses the time/fuel from the origin/PPOS or the previous rendezvous’ ENDAR to the next ARCP. The last page displays the time/fuel from the last ENDAR to the destination as described for airland missions.

Question 3

Define FLIGHT PLAN FUEL LOAD (4 Right)

Answer 3

Flight Plan Fuel Load: Display only of the Flight Plan Fuel Load (FPFL) to the TO waypoint of the title line. FPFL equals required ramp fuel for airland missions only. This totals the fuel quantities of 1L - 4L AND 1R - 3R.

Question 4

Define STORED fuel (5 RIght)

Answer 4

STORED fuel is the fuel remaining on board based upon the assumption that the receiver gets to the AR BINGO (soft waypoint 150 NM downtrack from ARCP) without taking on any fuel from the tanker, diverts to the AR ALTN via the AR alternate routing in the FLT PLN, holds, and then lands.

As such, STORED fuel is much like UNID EXTRA in that it is extra fuel above and beyond what is required to fly the mission.

Question 5

Define RECOVERY Fuel (3 Left)

Answer 5

Recovery: For AR segments, display fuel required to fly from the ARCP to [BINGO], thence to the recovery airfield via the AR ALTN routing.

The AR Bingo is a point in space along the track 150 NM downtrack from the ARCP.

Question 6

Define MISSED APPROACH Fuel (2 Left)

Answer 6

Missed Approach: For airland missions and the last segment of AR missions, display/entry of fuel for a Missed Approach (MISSED APP) at the destination.

Question 7

Define TAXI Fuel (1 Left)

Answer 7

Taxi: Taxi fuel accounts for engine start and taxi to start of takeoff roll. When in Takeoff ACTUALS mode, the MC assumes this is zero. For ENTERED and MANUALS modes, the default is 2500 pounds.

Question 8

For Double AR, which category is NOT reflected anymore along the LEFT side of the MC?

Answer 8

Taxi Fuel

Question 9

For AR, when does the MC onload all of the fuel??

Answer 9

At the CP

Question 10

Explain what a Fuel Reserve is and where it comes from

Answer 10

Fuel Reserve: Ensure the aircraft is carrying enough usable fuel on each flight to increase the total planned flight time between refueling points by 10 percent or 20 minutes (max 45 min) whichever is greater.

Comes from the 202v3

Question 11

Explain the 00+45 and 00+15 and the 2+15 for remote destinations

Answer 11

ACFPs will calculate reserves and contingency fuel as holding fuel.

ACFPs will have 1+00 holding when combining 0+45 reserve and 0+15 contingency fuel (for remote destinations ACFP will have 2+15 holding….. combining 2+00 reserve and 0+15 minutes contingency fuel).

Question 12

Explain what Contingency fuel is and where it comes from

Answer 12

For all missions, calculate 15 minutes of contingency fuel, using destination gross weights. Contingency fuel is not considered reserve fuel. Contingency fuel may be consumed at any point in the sortie.

Comes from the 2C-17v3

Question 13

If I go to my alternate and have to use all my holding fuel, how much fuel will be remaining?

Answer 13

Flying to alternate and using all your holding fuel will result in having ID EXTRA and UNID EXTRA remaining if you had any…. Lets say that you had an UNID EXTRA of 0.0 and an ID EXTRA of only 2.2 for the fuel bias….. then you’d be left with 2.2 only and likely flameout above the numbers… There is no requirement to land at your alternate destination with 18,000 pounds of fuel so think about THAT! Kinda scary.

Question 14

Minimum Planned Landind Fuel

Answer 14

Prior to departure, the minimum planned landing fuel at the primary destination is the greater of:

18,000 lbs or
Rquired fuel reserve, alternate fuel (if required), contingency fuel, and any authorized identified extra fuel.

Question 15

What happens to the C-17 when fuel goes below 16,000 lbs, are there any new limitations?

Answer 15

The maximum airspeed is 300 KCAS/Mach 0.825 when total aircraft fuel is below 16,000 lbs.

CAUTION: The AFCS can be commanded to exceed the configuration placard speed limit when total aircraft fuel weight is below 16,000 lb. The overspeed limit for the AFCS (AP/ATS/FD) is set to 300 knots when total aircraft fuel weight is below 16,000 lb., regardless of the current configuration placard. The CAWS alerts and barber pole indications will be correct.

Question 16

Low Fuel Aircraft Limitations

Answer 16

With less than 4,000 lbs of fuel per tank, deck angle and lateral g become increasingly more critical.

Below 1,000 lbs per tank, deck angle should be restricted to +/- 3 degrees and lateral g maneuvers should be minimized so as not to cause boost pump cavitation and engine flameout on approach.