THE AIRCRAFT FUEL/TIME/WEIGHT SUMMARY

The fuel use, time required, and weight provides critical information to the pilot for the safe operation of the aircraft.

In the Kneeboard formats, Abbreviated format, How-goes-it format, and Tactical format, this information is presented in a nearly identical manner. Look at the information identified as Fuel/Time/Weight Summary data in figure 4-6-1, On line 6 the column headings FUEL, TIME, and TOT.

POA means point of arrival of the flight the intended destination. We can interpret the data under the column heads as follows:

FUELfuel required to start engines at the departure point and to taxi, take off, and fly to the destination.

TIMEthe time, in hours and minutes, needed to reach the point of arrival.

DISTDistance from departure point to the point of arrival, in nautical miles.

ARRIVEthe planned time of arrival at the POA, in UCT (ZULU) time.

RAMPThe weight of the aircraft as it sits on the parking ramp at the departure station, in pounds. 

LANDThe weight of the aircraft, in pounds, as it touches down at the destination. The landing weight should be the RAMP weight minus the fuel used to taxi and take off minus the fuel used in flight. In the Tactical format, some or all of the cargo weight may also be subtracted from the RAMP weight. This would be used in the case where munitions are unloaded (on a target) in flight, or parachutists/parachute cargo are unloaded during the flight. This option may only be used on a Mission leg.

CARGOThe cargo weight/passenger weight at the arrival station, in pounds. This is normally the same as the cargo and passenger weight at the departure station.

OPNLWTThe operational weight of the air-craft (both at departure and arrival locations), in pounds. The operational weight of the aircraft includes the weight of the aircraft unfueled, the installed equipment, and the crew and crew baggage. Although this figure includes weights for engine lube oil, hydraulic fluids, and crew drink-ing water, it does not include any fuel weights. Operational weight of an aircraft usually doesnt change unless the aircraft is reconfigured or modified.

On line 8, ALT means alternate destination. If an alternate has been selected in the OPARS request, this line will contain entries for each column. The figures will be the differences that would occur between the intended destination and the alternate destination, such as the additional fuel required to reach the alternate from the intended destination, and the additional flying time required.

Line 9, RES, is the NATOPS-required reserve fuel as requested by the pilot, and the additional flying time the reserve fuel would allow.

Line 10, TOT, is the total fuel that should be on the aircraft at the departure ramp, in pounds, and the total flying time that that amount of fuel would allow. Normally this figure includes the NATOPS-required reserve fuel, the fuel required to start engines and to taxi and take off from the departure point, the fuel required during flight from the departure point to the intended destination, and the fuel required to reach an alternate.

OPARS bases the in-flight fuel consumption on the total fuel figure. The aircrafts actual fuel use may differ considerably if the crew over-fuels the aircraft. For instance, this flight requires 14,970 pounds of fuel. If at the departure point, the crew actually loads 30,000 pounds of fuel, the extra 15,030 of dead weight would require that the engines work harder to maintain speed, or the aircraft would fly slower. More fuel would be burned than calculated by OPARS, and the times would differ significantly. Thus, the Fuel Optimization feature of OPARS would be defeated.

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