If you recently tried to complete a flight but ran out of fuel, rest assured you are not alone. This is a common issue raised on these forums. Fortunately, there are many great resources / tutorials to help you along. This post is meant to be a guide to those resources.
First things first: whether you run out of fuel or not is influenced by 1) how much fuel you take off with and 2) your fuel burn rate during flight
1) How much fuel should I bring?
Step 1: Determine your flight length. This can be done easily using flightaware.com. (see the top section of the photo below). Note that flight times can be influenced by winds. Tailwinds reduce flight time by increasing your groundspeed at the same airspeed, and the opposite is true for headwinds. Windy.com is a great resource to check winds and see if you need to add more buffer to your flight time (just make sure you check the right altitude by adjusting the slider on the right)
Step 2: Load a fuel amount that matches your flight length. Use the information in the top right corner of the Weight and Balance menu in flight. The fuel burn rates in IF are pretty accurate, so if you bring an amount of fuel that matches your flight time you should be in good shape
A more detailed explanation of these steps can be found here: Flight planning series | Part 4 Flight plan & fuel planning
2) How do I manage my burn rate?
Once you have enough fuel loaded, it is important to manage your fuel burn rate properly. Fuel burn is primarily influenced by three factors: weight, cruise speed, and altitude.
Weight: This is a function of fuel, cargo, and passengers. Passengers can be estimated by using the seat capacity (found at seatguru.com or the airline website). Cargo is flexible, but for beginners it is often best to assume 0.
Cruise Speed: This article (Cruise Speeds) lists the proper cruise speed for each type of type of aircraft in infinite flight. Going faster or slower will have negative impacts on your burn rate and thus endurance (how long you can fly with the amount of fuel you have)
Altitude: Climbing too high, too quickly will increase fuel burn and reduce endurance. One quick way to estimate what your cruise altitude should be during the flight is to use flightaware.com. See the bottom of the picture below for a more detailed explanation of what to look for to plan your altitudes during flight. A more thorough explanation can be found here: A Guide to Step Climbing
There are more advanced tools like simbrief.com that can provide detailed information on weight, speed, wind, and altitude along with route planning, but they aren’t necessary to enjoy IF. There are also many great Tutorials for other topics that can enhance your experience, which you can find here: https://community.infiniteflight.com/c/tutorials
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