Aircraft Fuel Burn Calculator
Plan a flight from a known fuel burn rate in gallons per hour. Enter a flight time and the calculator returns the fuel required, or enter the usable fuel onboard and it returns your endurance in hours. Add a groundspeed alongside the fuel onboard and it also estimates a still-air range in nautical miles. Every result is raw burn, so always add your required reserves on top before you fly.
How to calculate aircraft fuel burn
- Type your fuel burn rate into the Burn rate field, in gallons per hour.
- Enter a Flight time in hours to get the fuel required for the leg.
- Enter the usable Fuel onboard in gallons to get your endurance in hours.
- Enter a Groundspeed in knots to also get a still-air range in nautical miles.
- Leave any field blank to skip the results that depend on it, then Copy the summary.
Examples
Fuel required for a planned leg
Burn rate 10 gph, Flight time 3.5 hr
Fuel required 35 gal
Endurance and range from full tanks
Burn rate 10 gph, Fuel onboard 40 gal, Groundspeed 120 kt
Endurance 4 hr, Range 480 nm
A slower burn with an odd tank quantity
Burn rate 8.5 gph, Fuel onboard 50 gal, Groundspeed 135 kt
Endurance 5.88 hr, Range 794.1 nm
Frequently asked questions
How is fuel required calculated?
Fuel required equals the burn rate multiplied by the flight time. At 10 gallons per hour for 3.5 hours the tool shows 35 gallons. That figure is fuel to fly the leg only, with no reserve, taxi or holding fuel included.
How is endurance calculated?
Endurance equals the usable fuel onboard divided by the burn rate. With 40 gallons at 10 gallons per hour you get 4 hours. Note this is time until the tanks are dry, so you must land well before it with fuel to spare.
How is range calculated?
Range equals endurance times groundspeed, and it needs both fuel onboard and a groundspeed to appear. It is a still-air, constant-speed estimate, so wind, the climb and the descent will all change the real distance you can cover.
Which fields do I need to fill in?
Burn rate is always required and must be greater than zero. You then need at least one of flight time or fuel onboard. Groundspeed alone does nothing, since range is built from endurance and only shows once fuel onboard is present.
What units does the calculator expect?
Burn rate is in US gallons per hour, flight time and endurance are in hours, fuel is in US gallons, groundspeed is in knots and range is in nautical miles. Keep every entry in these units or the results will not line up.
Does this include a fuel reserve?
No. The numbers are total burn to fly the given time or empty the tanks. Add your required day or night VFR or IFR reserve, plus taxi, climb and any holding or alternate fuel, whenever you plan a real flight.
Why is endurance shown to two decimals but range to one?
Endurance is displayed with two decimal places because small fractions of an hour matter for planning, while fuel required and range are shown to one decimal place. The underlying math keeps full precision and only the display is rounded.
What if my burn rate changes during the flight?
This tool uses a single average burn rate. In reality the climb burns more and a leaned cruise burns less, so pull a representative planning figure from your aircraft flight manual for the phase and power setting you expect, or run separate legs.
Is anything I enter sent to a server?
No. The calculation runs entirely in your browser using local JavaScript. Your burn rate, tank quantities and speeds never leave your device, so you can plan even without a network connection once the page is loaded.
Learn more
- Fuel planning and reserves for pilots
How burn rate, endurance and range fit together, why this tool excludes reserves, and how to add taxi, climb and IFR fuel by hand.
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