Originally Posted by
Lead Balloon
Can you not read? I said higher than forecast winds. How was I to “realise” the winds were higher than forecast during planning?
You don't. That's why you have some contingency reserve; to cater for the unforeseen. When you plan do you not cater for a few unforeseen circumstances? Don't you have a plan B and maybe a plan C just in case things aren't as expected? Eating in to my fixed reserve is somewhere around plan D or E. For it to happen a whole lot of stuff has gone wrong, not just some headwinds.
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...).
I am also comfortable using my own judgement on a case by case basis. I guess the difference is that my judgement is about when to take MORE than the minimum fuel, not about when it's ok to eat into the minimum fuel. Your mileage obviously varies. Touch wood, I hope I don't have an experience similar to yours.