⛽ Fuel Burn Calculator
Enter the leg distance, your groundspeed, the fuel-flow rate, and a reserve requirement to estimate trip fuel, reserve fuel, and the total fuel to load.
🛩️ How Much Fuel?
What is a Fuel Burn Calculator?
It turns a leg's distance and speed into the fuel you'll actually need. From the distance and groundspeed it works out the flight time, multiplies by your fuel-flow rate for trip fuel, then adds a reserve based on the minutes you want in the tanks on arrival — and totals the two.
Pilots use it in preflight planning to decide how much to uplift, whether a leg is within range, and how much margin they're carrying. Units follow your burn rate, gallons or litres per hour. The results are estimates for planning — always carry your required reserves and verify against the aircraft POH.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
How is fuel burn calculated?
The calculator divides the leg distance by your groundspeed to get the flight time in hours, then multiplies that by your fuel-flow rate to get trip fuel. Reserve fuel is the reserve minutes converted to hours times the same burn rate. Total fuel is trip plus reserve. Work in whatever units your burn rate uses — gallons per hour or litres per hour — and the answers come back in the same unit.
What fuel-flow rate should I use?
Use the cruise fuel flow from your aircraft's performance charts for the planned power setting, altitude, and mixture — it's usually given in gallons or litres per hour. Climb burns more and descent burns less, so for a quick estimate a slightly conservative cruise figure covers the difference. For precise planning, break the flight into climb, cruise, and descent segments.
How much reserve fuel should I plan?
Regulations set minimums — for example, many rules require 30 minutes of reserve for day VFR and 45 minutes at night or under IFR, plus fuel to an alternate. Those are floors, not targets; experienced pilots carry more. Enter your required reserve in minutes and the tool adds that fuel on top of the trip fuel so you see the total to load.
Why plan fuel by groundspeed rather than airspeed?
Fuel burned depends on how long you're airborne, and time aloft depends on groundspeed — your speed over the ground after wind. A strong headwind slows your groundspeed, stretches the flight time, and burns more fuel than the still-air figure suggests. Use your planned groundspeed for each leg. These are estimates for planning; always confirm against your aircraft's POH and carry required reserves.