Numerical

Fuel Planning Maths

Turn burn rate and time into fuel, and back again. The same arithmetic underpins real fuel planning and shows up throughout pilot numerical tests.

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About this test

What this test measures

This measures multi-step numerical reasoning with rates: combining fuel flow, time and reserves into a single answer without losing a step. Real fuel planning is exactly this, a chain of small calculations where one slip changes the whole figure.

How to improve your score

Work the steps in a fixed order so you never skip the reserve or the taxi fuel.
Keep rate units consistent, convert litres-per-hour and kilograms-per-hour before you multiply, not after.
Estimate the total first, then compute, so an out-by-ten error jumps straight out at you.

Good to know

Anchor on one hour

Fuel equals burn rate times time, so find the one-hour figure first and scale it. At 2,400 kg/h for 40 minutes, take two-thirds of 2,400 to get 1,600 kg. Converting minutes to a fraction of an hour keeps the units lined up.

Trip fuel only here

These drills ignore reserves to keep the mental maths clean, so do not add contingency while practising. Real dispatch always adds contingency, alternate and final reserve fuel on top, which is a separate planning step.

Frequently asked questions

What is the core relationship?

Fuel = burn rate x time. Keep time in hours (or convert minutes to a fraction of an hour) and the units line up.

Why kilograms?

Commercial fuel figures are usually in kilograms. The drill uses kg/h burn rates and kg totals to match how the numbers appear in practice.

Are reserves included?

Easy and Medium legs exclude reserves to keep the mental maths clean. Hard block-fuel items add a 30-minute final reserve at the same burn rate, which is a deliberate simplification; the real EASA final reserve is flown at holding fuel flow.

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