Originally Posted by
AerocatS2A
...If you've planned to land with 45 then decide mid flight that 30 is ok, then you actually had 30 fixed and 15 contingency. The fact you didn't realise this in your own planning is a bit of a worry. Do you have a personal fuel policy or is it just a see what happens kind of thing? At what point do you decide to land at an en-route alternate for a top up? If you get to your destination with 30 and then have to dick around for 10 minutes for some unforeseen reason, do you feel nervous?....
Can you not read? I said higher than forecast winds. How was I to “realise” the winds were higher than forecast during planning?
My “personal fuel policy” for reserve for a flight depends on many factors, such as whether the destination is in the middle of nowhere with no alternatives nearby. How many runways there are at the destination. Whether the weather at the destination is likely to be marginal. Whether there’s a human being on the end of the phone at the destination. Whether it’s a 2 hour flight or a 4.5 hour flight. Whether....
On some flights I would feel nervous with under 45 and would divert, early, to keep the 45 minutes in tact. On some flights I couldn’t care less if I landed with 29 minutes. What’s the grave and imminent danger if I’m doing circuits on a gin clear day at an aerodrome that’s one of the many GA ghost towns out there, and at the end of my last landing I’ve 29 minutes useable left on board?
I know Australians crave prescription, but I’m comfortable with using my own judgment on a flight-by-flight basis. Once in 33 years of flying I landed with all of my planned reserve used up, due to in-flight miscalculation. Never again (I hope...).