Fuel Mass and Balance calculations have been upgraded and moved from Step 2 of the Flight Planning process to an expandable section within Step 1.
Within this one section, a whole host of tools and means of calculation are available. Below is a user guide on how to make the most of these new and enhanced features.
2. Linking Mass & Balance to Fuel Calculations
4. Errors and Warning Messages in Loading Summary Table
5. Additional Mass and Balance Stations
A Fuel Scenario is a set of parameters that helps select a specific fuel calculation pattern.
Selecting a Fuel Scenario enables the fuel calculation for the flight to be calculated in different ways. There are 3 options:
• Minimum Off Block Fuel
• Maximum Off Block Fuel
• Manual
Minimum Off Block Fuel - calculates the Minimum Legal Fuel required including fuel to alternate and reserves. This is the default setting.
Maximum Off Block Fuel - will calculate the maximum fuel that may be uplifted to the aircraft for this flight.
Manual Scenario - will compute the route & flight log using exact inputs as specified by the user.
The Zero-Fuel Mass (ZFM) of an aircraft is the total mass (or weight) of the airplane and all its contents, minus the total weight of the usable fuel on board.
Entering items into the Mass & Balance popup on Step 1 will update the Zero Fuel Mass [ZFM] used for Fuel calculations.
Before calculating the Mass and Balance for a flight, ensure that the M&B parameters for the aircraft have been set up correctly.
This can be done by doing the following actions:
• Click MORE
• Go to AIRCRAFT
• Select Mass and Balance
There are two ways to open the Mass & Balance popup in Step 1:
1. Click the ‘Calc' link above the ZFM field (see image below)
2. Click the 'M&B' button to open the Mass and Balance table
With the Mass & Balance table open, enter values in the rows as required.
In the Mass & Balance table, the following data can be specified: weight of crew, passengers, and baggage.
In the example below, we have entered values for crew, passengers and baggage. When all values have been entered press the 'Apply & Recalculate' button. This will update the Zero Fuel Mass [ZFM] of the aircraft, and ensure that the Mass & Balance summary in the Briefing Pack is up to date.
Holding fuel* is calculated within a separate pop-up window entitled 'Holding Fuel Calculator'. It can be opened by pressing either the 'Calc' link above the ‘Holding’ input field or clicking the other link (text in orange) under the Holding fuel field.
After selecting the power settings then entering the flight level and duration of holding, press 'Apply' to recalculate fuel consumption.
* Holding fuel is the minimum fuel required to fly for 30 minutes at 1,500 feet above an alternate aerodrome or, if an alternate is not required, at the destination aerodrome at holding speed in ISA conditions. Some Regulating Authorities require sufficient fuel to hold for 45 minutes.
The system will display an error message if the input data is off the limits.
Various warnings will be shown in the Loading Summary table when the Total Off Block Fuel (sum of all fuel components) exceeds the physical tank capacity of the aircraft.
On the screenshot below a ‘Low Fuel’ error is depicted. This is how the system warns a user when the Off Block Fuel is less than the Minimum Required Fuel.
Here are more examples of typical warnings and their explanations that may occur.
Legend:
ZFM - Zero Fuel Mass
MTOM - Maximum Take-Off Mass
MLDGM - Maximum Landing Mass
Typical warning messages:
• OVERLOADED ON RAMP DUE TO TOO MUCH FUEL - is shown if the Fuel uplift is greater than Max Ramp Fuel minus ZFM. Note this edge case does not take payload into account.
• OVERLOADED DURING TAKE OFF DUE TO TOO MUCH FUEL - is shown if the Fuel uplift minus Taxi fuel is greater than MTOM minus ZFM. Note that this edge case does not take payload into account but does take taxi fuel into account.
• TOO MUCH FUEL. MAX FUEL CAPACITY IS 7500 [lbs] - is shown if the Fuel uplift is greater than Max Fuel Mass. It is shown when the physical limit of a tank is reached.
• OVERLOADED AT LANDING. REDUCE YOUR FUEL OR PAYLOAD - is shown if the Landing mass is greater than MLDGM. Note this calculation does take payload into account.
• NO FUEL FLOW AVAILABLE FOR TEMPERATURES BELOW ISA-20 - is shown if no Fuel Flow data is available below this ISA temperature at one or more points. Insertion of a minimum temperature range in the Aircraft profile data set is required.
• NO FUEL FLOW AVAILABLE FOR TEMPERATURES ABOVE ISA+10 - is shown if no Fuel Flow data is available above this ISA temperature at one or more points. Insertion of a minimum temperature range in the Aircraft profile data set is required.
• NO FUEL FLOW AVAILABLE FOR WEIGHT ABOVE 28500 lbs - is shown if no Fuel Flow data is available for the indicated mass of an aircraft. Insertion of max weight in fuel flow tables is required.
• If any of the above conditions occur, the following warning will be shown: Calculations could not be completed. DO NOT USE FOR FLIGHT.
If changes are made to the Fuel Scenario or Zero Fuel Mass (such as adding or removing payload) the Recalculate button should be pressed so that fuel calculations are refreshed and aligned.
Since there are different aircraft configurations, some may require adding more rows into the mass and balance table. RocketRoute provides customers with this option.
To add more rows, go to:
MORE - AIRCRAFT - Mass & Balance
