How do I calculate fuel with FS2004 Flight Planner?

In FS2004, select the aircraft first, open Flight Planner, choose the departure, destination, route and cruise altitude, then select Find Route and open NavLog. Read the estimated fuel burn for the completed route, but treat it as trip fuel only; add taxi, contingency, alternate and reserve fuel before loading the aircraft.

How to calculate fuel in FS2004 Flight Planner

1. Select the intended aircraft. Choose the exact aircraft and variant before planning. Changing from a piston aircraft to a turboprop or jet makes the original estimate irrelevant.
2. Open Flight Planner. Access it from the Create a Flight screen or the Flights menu. If route creation is unfamiliar, follow our guide to building and flying an FS2004 route.
3. Enter the departure and destination. Choose VFR or IFR, then select Direct GPS, VOR-to-VOR, low-altitude airways or high-altitude airways as appropriate.
4. Set the cruise altitude and find the route. Check the generated waypoints and total distance. Airways and procedure-related routing can be considerably longer than a direct GPS line.
5. Open NavLog. Note the estimated time en route and total fuel burn shown for the completed plan. If you alter the route, altitude or aircraft, generate the route again and reopen NavLog.
6. Calculate the fuel to load. Add the required operational allowances to the planner figure, then enter the resulting amount through FS2004's Fuel and Payload controls.

A useful planning structure is block fuel = trip fuel + taxi/start fuel + contingency fuel + alternate fuel + final reserve. Use one unit throughout. If converting between gallons or litres and pounds or kilograms, use the correct density for the fuel type; avgas and jet fuel do not share one universal conversion.

What does the FS2004 fuel estimate include?

FS2004's figure is best treated as a basic route-fuel estimate, not a complete dispatch calculation. It uses the selected aircraft and planned route, but it does not give you a dependable allowance for every real-world variable.

• Trip fuel: use the NavLog estimate as the starting figure for flying the planned route.
• Ground use: add fuel for engine start, warm-up and taxi.
• Contingency: allow for stronger winds, ATC vectors, level restrictions or a less efficient power setting.
• Alternate and missed approach: calculate these separately when your planned operation requires them.
• Final reserve: add a reserve based on the aircraft, type of flight and realism standard you are following.

There is no single reserve percentage suitable for every aircraft and flight. For realistic planning, use expected groundspeed and the aircraft's documented climb, cruise and holding fuel-flow figures. Our method for calculating flight time and fuel burn explains how to turn those figures into a more defensible estimate.

Does Flight Planner load the calculated fuel automatically?

No. Creating or loading an FS2004 flight plan does not automatically put the calculated quantity into the tanks.

Open Fuel and Payload after planning, enter the required total without exceeding tank capacities, and keep paired wing tanks balanced unless the aircraft's instructions specify another distribution. A mistake we see often is entering the total requirement into every tank rather than distributing that total across all tanks.

Why is the Flight Planner fuel estimate inaccurate?

The estimate is commonly wrong because the planner's assumptions do not match the way the aircraft is actually flown.

• The flight was planned with a different aircraft or variant selected.
• An add-on aircraft's configuration does not provide the planner with representative performance data.
• Actual winds change groundspeed and therefore time spent burning fuel.
• The flown cruise altitude, mixture, propeller setting, throttle setting or speed differs from the plan.
• The aircraft is heavily loaded, causing a longer climb and higher consumption.
• The route was changed after the NavLog figure was recorded.

For a new add-on, compare planned and actual fuel used at several waypoints rather than trusting one completed flight. That gives you a practical correction factor for the same aircraft, power setting and type of route.

When should I use a separate fuel calculator?

Use the built-in planner for quick estimates with familiar aircraft; use aircraft performance data or a separate calculator when accuracy matters.

For an alternative to the built-in estimate, our downloads library includes an Excel-based FS2004 fuel-planning utility. Check its result against the aircraft documentation and observed consumption, especially with third-party flight models.