Shock horror - Nigel has to wait.

[triple smudge]

Hi all.

Here's a quote from Al Franken's book, "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations":

"You know what I dislike most about these guys? They're always so certain. They're always 100 percent sure of what they're saying. Even if it's wrong. It must be a great feeling..."

I've read through this thread and some contributors have used words like "stupid", "madness", "seems simple to me", "it's the law", "period", and "FAA would put you out of business".

I'm hoping for "horse pucky" next.

This is the nature of a good rumour forum like this. All great stuff.

Some people still insist that it is a sin against nature to use diversion fuel in the hold. Many contributors have tried to make the following point, so I will too:

Imagine you are in the hold at a place where conditions are good. You are starting to use your diversion fuel. You can:

Option 1. Stay at your present airfield.
Option 2. Divert immediately to your diversion airfield. This will use up your diversion fuel.

The "madness" brigade would shout that option 1 MIGHT mean that you end up with no diversion fuel. Please note that this is the situation you WILL end up with if you choose option 2! You get to your diversion airfield without diversion fuel because you've used it to divert! AHHHHH!!! So, recap:

Option 1. You're at an airfield with fuel = diversion + reserve.
Option 2. You're at an airfield with fuel = reserve.

IF all other things are equal, which is the better situation? I've put the answer at the bottom of this posting so you can't cheat.*

Just because you've labelled that extra fuel "diversion fuel" doesn't mean it serves a higher purpose if you actually go to a different airfield.

Of course, it's not always that simple. Diversion airfields have to meet certain criteria on the day, including forecast weather within certain limits. So, if you are in the hold because of thunderstorms over your destination, or thick fog at a non-CAT III destination, or some airport related problem causing indeterminate delays, would you use your diversion fuel to hold? No.

I think that is what gets forgotten. We aren't blindly following a rule to stay at destination, and we aren't taking risks. What worries me is people who say we are doing so, and would rather we blindly follow a rule to divert to another airfield the minute the fuel reaches a certain level (simple period full stop no messin'), with no thought given to what our new situation will be like when we get to that airfield.

Smudge

(*answer: option 1)

My goodness... hello 52049er, we seem to have had the same idea within 5 minutes of each other! Is one of us telepathic?

(hint: No).

Maybe I should change mine to "er, see above".

Regards

Smudge