Hey, the Boeing 777-300ER is one of my favourite planes, but every time I try to fly with it, I run out of fuel.
I do Step Climb, but even if I’m at a low FL (FL180 for example) it still doesn’t have enough fuel.
Last day I tried to make a San Francisco - Melbourne flight, I had full fuel tanks (19.40h) and when 30 min passed, I only had fuel for 11 hours. I don’t understand what’s the matter with this plane because all the other ones work normal. Btw, I use Simbrief to make my flight plan and Fuelplanner to calculate the fuel.
Thank you.
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Hey there!
There several contributing factors such as wind, weight, etc that effect your fuel consumption. If you plan the weather and weight for your route before the flight, you would know the amount of fuel needed for your journey. Also, keep in mind that the aircraft uses less fuel during descent.
It’s always good to pack extra fuel just in case!
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It’s normal for your flight time to show red (indicating not enough fuel) early in the flight. Winds en route, along with a plethora of other factors will change your ETE and amount of fuel used. Rest assured, you should have enough to complete your flight if you’ve planned correctly.
I suggest going to FL 320 or 340 as a initial cruise altitude. You can try to step-climb if applicable.
The fuel estimate in the game is never accurate. As you burn more fuel, you get lighter, so you can stretch your fuel longer the further you fly to your destination.
I’ve had this problem before. I once took off with full fuel for LAX-SYD in a VS 77W however when I woke up the next morning to land, I found the plane crashed in the ocean. Not sure why, but it never happened again.
Also, make sure you are flying at M0.84, the cruise speed for the 777. If you’re going significantly faster then the engines may be working too hard.
Air is thick at low altitudes, so you will consume more fuel. Get higher and you will use less fuel. Maybe it helps?
Btw you can read more about it over here: Fuel economy in aircraft - Wikipedia
I use simbrief for everything. Could you provide a link to Fuelplanner?
depends. If your plane is heavy the engines will need to operate at high power/use more fuel when the atmosphere is thin, since there’s less oxygen to burn and less lift generated by the wings.
I definitely know what you’re talking about. Fuel planning and overall efficiency planning is not straight forward at all. And what bugs me is the massive angle of attack my plane has at FL350 and above.
But overall as I’ve studied more aerospace concepts I’ve reached a good conclusion: with really heavy planes do a gentle climb after 10,000 to around FL290. then step up a while later to 320, 340, and maybe hours into the flight when you’ve used most of your fuel, do 370,380.
You may be climbing to 350 too earrly. If you are heavy enough it is possible that 33000 is more efficient than 35000 even if you aren’t blowing your engines out
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