FLIGHT OPERATIONS

ENGINEERING COURSE

FLIGHT PLANNING

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INDEX

1. ENROUTE CLIMB..................................................................................................... 3

1.1 CLIMB SPEED SELECTION.................................................................................................4

2. CRUISE ..................................................................................................................... 5

2.1 SPEED SELECTION ............................................................................................................5

2.2 ALTITUDE SELECTION .......................................................................................................9

3. FLIGHT PLANNING ................................................................................................ 14

3.1 FAA FUEL REQUIREMENTS - DOMESTIC .......................................................................14

3.2 FAA FUEL REQUIREMENTS - INTERNATIONAL .............................................................14

3.3 JAA FUEL REQUIREMENTS - JAR-OPS 1.255 .................................................................15

3.4 ICAO FUEL REQUIREMENTS ...........................................................................................15

3.5 FUEL ALLOWANCES.........................................................................................................15

3.6 FUEL TANKERING.............................................................................................................16

3.7 CG POSITION FOR FUEL SAVING ...................................................................................16

3.8 AIRPLANE LIMITING WEIGHTS VERIFICATION ..............................................................17

3.9 EMERGENCY DESCENT AND OXYGEN REQUIREMENTS.............................................18

3.10 ETOPS ..............................................................................................................................19

3.11 EXTENDED OVERWATER OPERATIONS .......................................................................21

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1. ENROUTE CLIMB

The forces relationships during climb:

LIFT - L THRUST - T

γ
θ

W•cosγ
DRAG - D
WEIGHT - W

W•senγ

TRUE AIRSPEED
RATE OF CLIMB - R/C
γ

The climb performance of an airplane is expressed by the two terms:

• climb angle (γ);
• rate of climb.

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1.1 CLIMB SPEED SELECTION

Climb speeds are selected taking into account the following aspects:
• maximum rate of climb: shortest time to reach cruise altitude;
• maximum climb angle: clearing obstacle, shortest distance to reach cruise altitude;
• suitable speed schedule considering usual ATC requirements.
The graph below shows the relationship between rate of climb and the thrust drag curve.
It may be observed that the speed for maximum climb gradient occurs when the aircraft
has the maximum margin between thrust and drag. In addition, it may be observed that
the maximum rate of climb will occur at a speed higher than the maximum climb gradient
speed.

1.1.1 MAXIMUM ANGLE SPEED

Also called Vx, this is the speed where the climb gradient is maximized and is
recommended for obstacle clearance in order to reach an altitude on minimum ground
distance.

1.1.2 MAXIMUM RATE OF CLIMB SPEED

Also called Vy, this is the speed where the rate of climb is maximized and is
recommended when is desired to reach an altitude on minimum climb time.

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2. CRUISE
The balance of forces in leveled unaccelerated flight:

LIFT – L

DRAG – D THRUST - T

WEIGHT - W
LIFT = WEIGHT

THRUST = DRAG

2.1 SPEED SELECTION

2.1.1 MAXIMUM CRUISE SPEED

If the forces mentioned above were not in balance, there would be a net force in one
direction, and acceleration in that direction would result. The figure below shows that the
aircraft stabilizes its speed when drag is equal to the available thrust. When Maximum
Cruise Thrust is used, the speed at which the aircraft stabilizes is called Maximum Speed
Cruise (MSC).
In some situations, the aircraft may reach the maximum operating speed (VMO or MMO)
before reaching the thrust limited Maximum Speed Cruise (MSC).

THRUST/δ
δ

DRAG/δ
δ

THRUST/δ
δ

DRAG/δ
δ

MSC SPEED

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2.1.2 MAXIMUM RANGE SPEED

The primary parameter for measuring aircraft range is the Specific Range (SR) or Fuel
Mileage. It is basically the number of nautical air miles an aircraft can travel using a
certain quantity of fuel, and can also be expressed as True Air Speed divided by the Fuel
Flow:

NAM TAS
SR = =
FUEL FF

Where:
SR: specific range;
NAM: air distance range
FUEL: fuel burned
TAS: true air speed
FF: total fuel flow

The Maximum Range Cruise (MRC) is the speed at which fuel mileage reaches its
highest possible value.

2.1.3 LONG RANGE CRUISE SPEED

Long Range Cruise (LRC) is the speed value that results in a specific range equals to
99% of the specific range defined by the MRC. Although not so fuel efficient, LRC is more
commonly used because it is considerably faster than MRC (reducing flight time) and just
1% less fuel efficient

SPECIFIC
RANGE 1%

MRC LRC

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2.1.4 ECONOMIC CRUISE SPEED

The Economic Cruise Speed (Econ Speed) is defined as the speed at which Direct
Operating Costs (DOC) are minimized.
The DOC are affected by the Time Related Costs (CT) and Fuel Related Costs (CF).
The Time Related Costs may consider the following items:
• Flight crew and cabin crew wages (if they are a function of flight time);
• Aircraft and Engine leasing costs;
• Time related maintenance costs (labor and airframe);
• The cost of the late arrival of a flight.
The Fuel Related Cost is the price of fuel on a particular flight leg.
The Econ Speed is the speed at which the sum of CT and CF is minimized, as it can be
shown in the graph below:

Costs X Mach
240
230
220
210
200
190
180
170
Total Costs
160
150
Costs - US$

140
130 Time Related Costs
120
110
100
90
80
Fuel Related Costs
70
Min. Fuel Mach

60
Min. Cost Mach

50
40
30
20
10
0
0.40 0.42 0.44 0.46 0.48 0.50 0.52 0.54 0.56 0.58 0.60 0.62 0.64 0.66 0.68 0.70 0.72 0.74 0.76 0.78 0.80 0.82 0.84 0.86

Mach

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COST INDEX

The Econ Speed can be calculated as a function of a parameter called Cost Index (CI). It
expresses the relative importance of CT and CF:

TIME RELATED COST C T $/time

COST INDEX = = =
FUEL COST C F $/Fuel_mass

LOW COST INDEX

According to the formula presented, a low CI is the result of low CT and/or a high CF.
Therefore, in order to reduce the DOC in case a specific operator has a low CI (CI = 0 or
practically), it would be more reasonable to fly at speeds that would prioritize fuel
consumption. Therefore, the Econ Speed would be a speed close to the MRC.

Low CT
High CF
CI = 0 MRC

HIGH COST INDEX

According to the formula presented, a high CI the result of high CT and/or a low CF.
Therefore, in order to reduce the DOC in case a specific operator has a high CI (CI = 999
or practically), it would be more reasonable to fly at speeds that would prioritize flight time.
Therefore, the Econ Speed would be a speed close to the MSC.

High CT
Low CF
CI = 999 MSC

Many aircraft manufacturers provide Econ Speeds as a function of CI. The operator can
calculate its particular CI based on formula above, and then use the manufacturers
published data to find the Mach number associated to their calculated CI.
The Embraer General Publication called “The Cost Index and Economic Cruise Mach”
brings more information and details about the relation between CI and Econ Speeds.

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2.1.5 INFLUENCE OF GROSS WEIGHT ON SPEEDS

The figure below shows the MRC, LRC, Econ Speed (CI = 10) and MSC, and how it is
influenced by the aircraft weight.

Altitude = 33.000 ft
ISA conditions SR X Mach
0.30
MRC
0.29 LRC
CI = 10
0.28

0.27
1%
0.26

0.25

0.24
SR - NM/kg

0.23 MSC

0.22 27.000 kg
0.21
30.000 kg
0.20
33.000 kg
0.19

0.18 36.000 kg

0.17

0.16

0.15
0.36 0.38 0.40 0.42 0.44 0.46 0.48 0.50 0.52 0.54 0.56 0.58 0.60 0.62 0.64 0.66 0.68 0.70 0.72 0.74 0.76 0.78 0.80 0.82 0.84 0.86

Mach

2.2 ALTITUDE SELECTION

2.2.1 MAXIMUM ALTITUDE

For a given speed, weight and thrust, there is a maximum altitude at which straight and
level flight is possible. This Maximum Altitude is also called Aircraft Ceiling.
In order to provide some performance margin for the aircraft flying at the Maximum
Altitude, sometimes it is defined as the maximum altitude for a given speed, weight and
thrust at which the aircraft still has a residual rate of climb of, for example, 100 or 300 feet
per minute.
The maximum altitude at which an airplane can fly is limited by three factors:
• Engine maximum thrust;
• Capacity of the wing to generate enough buffet-free lift;
• Operational envelope.

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2.2.2 MANEUVER CAPABILITY OR BUFFET MARGIN

The Maneuver Capability (also called as Buffet Margin) represents the ability of the wing
to generate enough lift for the weight of the airplane.
The aircraft manufacturers usually publish graphs which show at which speed the aircraft
will start experiencing high and low speed buffeting for a given weight and altitude. These
graphs also show corrections for load factors greater than 1, which can be used to
determine the buffeting speed in case of banked flight or in turbulence. The figure below
shows a typical Maneuver Capability graph:

For a certain weight, load factor and altitude, the graph shows the minimum and maximum
speeds the aircraft can fly without experiencing buffeting. If the minimum and maximum
speeds coincide, it is said that the aircraft has reached the Coffin Corner. At this speed, it
is neither possible to accelerate or decelerate, otherwise buffeting would occur. In this
case, the only option left for the pilot is to descend to a lower altitude.

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The load factor margin may be expressed in terms of the level flight bank angle that
corresponds to the given loading.

L
θ

mg

In the situation shown above, the balance of forces in the vertical plan is:

L 1 1
L × cosθ = m × g ⇒ = ⇒ n=
m × g cosθ cosθ

Where:
L = lift
m = mass
g = acceleration of gravity
θ = bank angle
n = load factor

For example, an airplane flying at 40 degrees of bank while maintaining a level flight
altitude will generate a loading of approximately 1.3:

1 1
n= = = 1.3
cosθ cos40o

The Maneuver Capability chart can be used to determine the maximum weight at a certain
altitude that provides a selected maneuver margin. Many airlines prefer to limit the
operations by 1.3Gs on Buffet Margin, which, according to the example above, is
equivalent to stall the aircraft at 40º bank angle.

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2.2.3 OPTIMUM ALTITUDE

The Optimum Cruise Altitude is the pressure altitude, for a given weight and speed, that
gives the maximum specific range.

Mach = 0.7 Optimum Altitude

ISA Conditions
43000
42000
27000 kg
41000
40000
30000 kg
39000
38000 33000 kg
37000
36000
36000 kg
Altitude - ft

35000
34000
33000
32000
31000
30000
29000
28000
27000
26000
25000
0.2 0.21 0.22 0.23 0.24 0.25 0.26 0.27 0.28 0.29 0.3 0.31 0.32

Specific Range - NM/kg

Many times, it is not possible to fly at the optimum altitude because the available flight
level depends on the direction of the flight or may not be cleared by the ATC. In addition,
the aircraft may not have enough buffet margin to fly at that altitude.
The optimum altitude, as defined above, is based on the cruise specific range only, and
does not consider the overall fuel consumption during an entire flight. For shorter-range
flights, it makes more sense defining the Optimum Cruise Altitude as the altitude at
which the entire flight fuel burn is minimized (i.e., minimizing Climb+Cruise+Descent fuel).
In must be observed that on short flights the leveled cruise segment may be very small, or
non-existent at all (descent starting immediately after the climb to cruise altitude is
completed). Embraer publishes on its Airplane Operations Manual (AOM) a cruise altitude
table based on minimum flight fuel consumption and considering at least 5 minutes of
cruise time.

CRUISE
At least 5 minutes
in cruise
CLIMB DESCENT

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2.2.4 WIND-ALTITUDE TRADE

The optimum altitude is normally calculated for zero wind, but wind is a factor that may
justify operations considerably above or below the optimum altitude. For example, a
favorable wind component may have an effect on ground speed that more than
compensates for the loss in specific air range.
If a stronger headwind is present at the optimum altitude than at a lower altitude, for
example, it might be advantageous to fly at the lower altitude in order to save fuel.
This analysis of the wind in regard to the advantage of flying at a non-optimum altitude is
called wind-altitude trade.
The main idea is to compare the ground-specific range on actual (A) and new (N) flight
levels, as shown on the equation below:

TAS N + VW N TAS A + VW A
≥
FFN FFA

Where:
TAS= True Airspeed
VW = Direct Wind Component (Positive for Tail Wind and Negative for Head Wind)
FF = Fuel Flow

Many aircraft manufactures present this equation on table format. The break-even wind
can be determined on the flight level, which is intended to climb or descent to (new flight
level), considering the wind on the actual flight level, speed, weight and altitude.
Embraer publishes on its Airplane Operations Manual (AOM) wind-altitude trade tables
and also examples of how these tables should be used.

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3. FLIGHT PLANNING

3.1 FAA FUEL REQUIREMENTS - DOMESTIC

FAR 121.639 covers fuel requirements for air carriers in domestic operations. According to
this rule, an airplane should not be dispatched or takeoff unless it has enough fuel:
a) To fly from the origin airport to the destination airport;
b) Thereafter, to fly and land at the alternate airport (if an alternate airport is necessary),
and;
c) Thereafter, to fly 45 minutes at normal cruising fuel consumption.

The alternate airport is necessary if, during the time period of 1 hour before the estimated
time of arrival (ETA) and 1 hour after ETA, the destination airport ceiling is 2000 ft or
below, or visibility is less than 3 NM.

3.2 FAA FUEL REQUIREMENTS - INTERNATIONAL

FAR 121.645 covers fuel requirements for international operations. According to this rule
an airplane should not be dispatched or takeoff unless it has enough fuel:
a) To fly from the origin airport and land at the destination airport.
b) After that, to fly for a period of 10 percent of the total time required to fly from the
airport of departure to the airport to which it was dispatched.
c) After that, to fly to and land at the most distant alternate airport specified in the flight
plan, and
d) After that, to fly for 30 minutes at holding speed at 1500 feet above the alternate
airport.

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3.3 JAA FUEL REQUIREMENTS - JAR-OPS 1.255

JAA gives fuel requirements in JAR-OPS 1.255 according to the rule below:
a) To fly from the origin airport and land at the destination airport.
b) Contingency fuel equivalent to 5% of the planned trip fuel (see AMC OPS 1.255 for
additional information);
c) After that, to fly to and land at the most distant alternate airport specified in the flight
plan, and
d) After that, to fly for 30 minutes at holding speed at 1500 feet above the alternate
airport.

3.4 ICAO FUEL REQUIREMENTS

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) gives fuel requirements in Annex 6 to
the Convention on International Civil Aviation, Part 1. According to this rule, an airplane
should not be dispatched or takeoff unless it has enough fuel for:
a) To fly to and land at the airport to which it is dispatched; and
b) To fly to the alternate aerodrome specified in the flight plan; and then
c) To fly for 30 minutes at holding speed at 450 m (1500 ft) above the alternate
aerodrome, and approach and land; and
d) Have an additional amount of fuel sufficient to provide for the increased consumption
on the occurrence of any of the potential contingencies specified by the operator to the
satisfaction of the state of the operator (typically 3 to 6% of the fuel for the trip).

3.5 FUEL ALLOWANCES

The following fuel allowances are typically considered in the fuel requirement
calculations:

a) Taxi-out fuel at the origin airport.

b) Takeoff fuel.
c) Maneuvering fuel for approach and landing at the destination airport.
d) Go-around fuel over the destination airport.
e) Maneuvering fuel for approach and landing at the alternate airport.
f) APU fuel if it is kept running at any part of the flight.
Note: The taxi-in fuel at the destination and alternate airports are normally not considered
in the calculation of the minimum fuel quantity required for the flight.

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3.6 FUEL TANKERING

Fuel tankering is a procedure that may be adopted by airlines when the fuel price at the
destination airport is higher than in the origin. If it is cost effective, the airline will load
additional fuel at the origin airport in order to minimize (or even avoid) refueling at the
destination airport.
Fuel tankering causes the aircraft weight to increase, thus increasing fuel consumption.
Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the costs of the extra fuel transportation operation.
Special care must be taken in determining the total fuel quantity to be tankered. Basically,
three factors must be observed:

• The amount of fuel tankered must be such that the total fuel remaining at the end
of the flight shall not exceed the minimum fuel required for the next flight, unless a
fuel tankering analysis has been done for a multi-leg flight.

• Tankered fuel may not cause the aircraft weight to exceed the maximum takeoff
and landing weights.

• Due to increased landing weights, additional maintenance costs may be expected

while performing fuel tankering. Tires and brakes wear is the most affected. In order
to compensate it, some operators adjust the break-even fuel price on destination by
another factor. This factor is usually “empirical” and is determined by airlines based
on each maintenance costs.
Many aircraft manufacturers present fuel tankering for flight planning data, using tables
and charts. The extra amount of fuel, or fuel surplus, is usually calculated as function of
trip length, flight level and speed schedule. Embraer publishes on its Airplane Operations
Manual (AOM) Fuel Surplus tables and also examples of how these tables should be
used.

3.7 CG POSITION FOR FUEL SAVING

In normal flight conditions, the wing produces a lift force that actuates at a point aft of the
center of gravity (CG) of the aircraft. In order to counteract the nose-down moment
caused by the wing lift and aircraft weight forces, the horizontal stabilizer needs to
generate a down force.

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When the CG of the aircraft is in a forward position, the nose-down moment caused by the
wing lift and aircraft weight forces increases, thus requiring a greater horizontal stabilizer
down force to counteract it.
In order to guarantee stabilized flight conditions, the wing lift force must be equal to the
aircraft weight plus the horizontal stabilizer down force. If the horizontal stabilizer down
force increases due to forward CG position, the wing lift force will also need to increase.
This lift increase can only be obtained by increasing the aircraft angle of attack, which will
also result in an increase of the drag forces.
Thus, in general, the best position to save fuel is an aft CG, because this condition results
in smaller stabilizer down forces and, therefore, smaller wing lift forces. The reduction on
the lift results in less drag, therefore reducing fuel consumption.
Some airplanes have an automatic system to maintain CG as aft as possible, in order to
optimize fuel consumption.

3.8 AIRPLANE LIMITING WEIGHTS VERIFICATION

When performing the fuel and payload calculations, the airplane structural and
performance limiting weights must be observed. An easy way of guaranteeing that no limit
is exceeded is by limiting the takeoff weight to the lower of the following:
a) Maximum Structural Weight, Performance limited takeoff weight or Pavement strength
limited weight, whichever is lower;
b) Maximum Structural Landing Weight or Performance Limited Landing Weight, plus the
Trip Fuel; or
c) Maximum Zero Fuel Weight plus the Takeoff Fuel.

Max Max Perf. Max Struct.

Landing (*) Takeoff Takeoff Pavement MZFW

+ +
Trip T.O.
Fuel Fuel

The lower between these weights

will be the
Maximum Allowed Takeoff Weight

(*) = Max Landing is the lowest between the Max Structural Landing Weight, Performance Limited
Landing Weight and Landing Pavement Strength Limited Weight.

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3.9 EMERGENCY DESCENT AND OXYGEN REQUIREMENTS (JAR OPS 1.770 / 1760
and FAR 121.329/333)
An operator shall not operate a pressurized airplane at pressure altitudes above 10000 ft
unless supplemental oxygen equipment, capable of storing and dispensing the oxygen
supplies required is provided.”

After a depressurization, oxygen must be supplied automatically to passengers through

individual dispensing units and immediately available for each one. By certification, these
units must be able to supply oxygen for a certain period of time. For the Embraer 170/190
Family, a Chemical System supplies the oxygen to the passengers.

Chemical Systems:

When pulling the oxygen masks, an independent chemical generator is triggered by a

chemical reaction, providing pure oxygen to the passengers. This flow cannot be stopped
after activated.

The supply pressure is constant and independent of the cabin altitude. This will lead to a
continuous and decreasing flow during the descent of the aircraft. So high flows are
provided at high altitudes and low flows at low altitudes. A period of 12 or 22 minutes of
oxygen supply is typically used on commercial aircraft.

On obstacle clearance scenario, such as over flying mountainous areas, a specific

emergency descent profile must be constructed based on the supply time.

Passenger Oxygen Requirements:

Regulations determine requirements for minimum supplementary oxygen for passengers

and crewmembers as function of flight altitude. The descent profile is always limited by
passenger oxygen, once less oxygen quantity is required for them. The table below
summarizes these requirements:

Flight Altitude (FA) Oxygen Requirements

FA > 15000 ft Supply to 100% of total PAX
14000ft < FA ≤ 15000ft Supply to 30% of total PAX
10000ft < FA ≤ 14000ft Supply to 10% of total PAX (not required during first 30 min)
8000ft < FA≤ 10000ft Supply for 2% of total PAX (may be portable oxygen)

The amount of supplementary oxygen required shall be determined on the basis of cabin
pressure altitude. It is possible to build a flight profile that represents the maximum
altitudes that the aircraft can fly in such a way that all the oxygen requirements are
respected.

The oxygen profile is then constructed considering that the supplementary oxygen time
limit is expired exactly when then aircraft reaches 10000 ft.

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The aircraft must have performance to accomplish this profile using emergency descent
speeds according to each type of aircraft. The performance descent profile must always
stand at or below the oxygen profile.

OXYGEN PROFILE
EMERGENCY
DESCENT
SPEED

Step Flight for obstacle

clearance EMERGENCY
DESCENT
SPEED
PERFORMANCE
PROFILE

10000 ft

Enough O2 supply for x min

3.10 ETOPS

Extended Range Operation with Two Engine Airplanes (ETOPS) is a special certification
that the airplane and operator must have to operate over a route that contains a point
distant farther than 60 minutes flying time (at a one-engine-inoperative cruise speed under
standard conditions in still air) from an Adequate Airport. (FAR 121.161 or JAR-OPS
1.245)
In order to have the ETOPS certification, the aircraft must be certified to comply with the
requirements for the Type Design Approval and the operator must gain the Operational
Approval. Some factors that must be considered are listed below:
• Airframe/engine designed for fail-safe criteria
• Effect of operation with a single engine
• Fuel management
• Independent sources of AC power
• Cargo fire protection system
• Equipment cooling
• Analysis of failure effects
• In-Service experience
• Manufacturer validation flight test
• Propulsion system reliability record
• Maintenance program reliability
• Operational limitations and Flight Dispatch considerations
Once ETOPS approved, the aircraft and operator gain approvals for either 75 min, 120
min or 180 min from an adequate alternative aerodrome.

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ETOPS AREA OF OPERATION

Area of Operation is defined as the region within the operator is authorized to conduct an
ETOPS operation. The distance from any point along the proposed route of flight to an
adequate airport must be covered within selected time using the approved one engine
inoperative cruise speeds (assuming still air, ISA conditions and one engine inoperative).

Any point along a route must be located within the ETOPS approval time range circles (or
60 min for non-ETOPS approved aircraft):

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In JAR OPS 1.245 it is defined that for aircraft without ETOPS certification, the 60 min
range circles shall be calculated based in the following conditions:

1) International Standard Atmosphere (ISA);

2) Level Flight (i.e., no driftdown may be considered);
3) FL 170 (17000 ft) or at the maximum flight level to which the airplane, with one engine
inoperative, can climb, and maintain, using the gross rate of climb specified in the
AFM, whichever is less.
4) Airspeed (not exceeding Vmo) that can be maintained with one engine inoperative.

3.11 EXTENDED OVERWATER OPERATIONS

Extended Overwater Operations is not the same thing as ETOPS. ETOPS is related to
single engine flight to a diversion airport, while Extended Overwater Operations is related
to flight away from land (any shore or island are considered land, and no airport availability
is required).
Each certification authority defines Extended Overwater differently:
• FAR Part 1 defines Extended Overwater Operations when the aircraft is more than
50 NM distant from land.
• Brazilian RBHA Part 1 defines Extended Overwater Operations when the aircraft is
more than 200 NM distant from land.
• JAR-OPS 1 defines Extended Overwater Operations when the aircraft is more than
400 NM distant from land.
The aircraft must be certified for Ditching in order to perform Extended Overwater
Operations. In addition, life rafts are also required.
Depending on certification authority requirements, the availability of life vests may be
required even if the aircraft will overfly water at a distance from land that does not
characterize the flight as an Extended Overwater Operation.

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