Tips for flight planning fuel calculations

A friendly reminder about fuel planning: always calculate fuel required using the figures from your aircraft's POH, not rules of thumb you found online. You need fuel for taxi, climb, cruise for each leg, descent, approach, plus fixed reserve (usually 45 minutes for day VFR), plus variable reserve for headwinds and diversions. Don't forget to account for the wind — a headwind leg will burn more fuel than the same distance with a tailwind.

This is something I had to learn the hard way during cross-country training. The wind at altitude was much stronger than forecast and my fuel calculations were way too optimistic. Luckily my instructor caught it during the pre-flight planning review.

That's a good lesson. Always check the area forecast and winds aloft, and be conservative. If in doubt, carry more fuel. The only time extra fuel is a problem is when you're on fire — and even then it buys you options for a forced landing site with smoother terrain.