The Kiwaroo way to fuel up your plane

To be very frank, I am getting tired of people always requesting what the correct amount of fuel to add to their plane before the flight, and whining that Keroplan is only in German, so I am passing on to you the Adrien Quenneville/ Kiwaroo method of filling up your plane. I never used Keroplan, I only use FS and the Flynet website. And Kiwaroo boasts not a single crash in its entire history.

You are more than welcome to use this method for your purposes. It's easy to use - although lengthy to explain - and works all the time. However, please note the following things:

1. This method is only specific with each airplane a virtual pilot has. This means that: a) Each airplane on Flynet has its own specific fuel capacity and consumption rates. Adding what would be enough fuel on an E170 is not what you should add in a B734 for the same flight. b) Different pilots have different models of each aircraft. Therefore, a calculation for one plane model owned by one pilot may not necessarily be the same for the same plane, but different model, or another one... Experiment around a bit with these values!

2. I suggest entering the final calculated value by this method on your flightplans, so that it is easy to figure out how much fuel is required right after you book a flight!

3. Users of past versions of FS may not be able to get certain values from the program. If this is the case for the value of a full tank from that aircraft needed in step 1, I apologize for that... Just jump straight to step 2.

4. Make sure the aircraft you are flying with on FS is the same you are flying on Flynet! It won't work otherwise! Different planes have different capacities and fuel consumptions!

Here's the method:

1. Load Flight simulator. Create your flight (with the correct aircraft), but before pressing the "fly" button, check the "weight and balance" area. There, you can get the amount of fuel that is in your plane - FS sets that amount to a full fuel tanks configuration by default. Make sure the weight values are in pounds (lbs), and record and save that amount.

2. Load the Flynet client. When prompted to insert the amount of fuel, put the fuel for a full tank. It doesn't matter if you lose money on the flight, you'll have some fuel left so you can make that profit on the next flight with that same plane! Note: If it prompts with a message that you're trying to add too much fuel, just make small changes to the amount and you should be able to find a good value. The key here is "small changes"

3. Fly the flight, and land! Note: you must have landed properly... a value following a crash will not be accurate.

4. Load the Flynet website, and go to the complete flight report... midway through the right side of the page, there's the "block fuel" value. SAVE THIS VALUE! This is the fuel that your aircraft consumed duing the flight.

With the value from step 4, you know have a slight idea how much you will need for that flight. Now you must remember that flights that are going against the usual wind currents are going to consume more, and that you want a reserve...

So let's say the value of step 4 is 50000kgs, on an east-bound flight across the Northern Atlantic, you will want a reserve of about 1/5 of that amount (10000 kgs), plus remembering that you have to go against the jet stream, your westbound flight back will consume slightly more (about 1/10 to 1/8th more)...

With these tricks, there should be no crashes for lack of fuel, nor any turnarounds or Gimli Gliders.

Oh, and since I wrote this over a large period of time, if there's anything in need of clarifying, just write it down, i'll get on to it.

Q-minator