Westbound fuel burns? FL300 & FL400?
 

Hello everyone,

On westbound coast to coast trips, many choose to fly lower, in order to save time.....

IDK if it is possible to get approximate total fuel burn comparatives between the two altitudes, given the changes in average wind velocities every day, but I thought I’d give it a try.

Thanks for your help!


HD

What airplane? Hawker 800 westbound coast to coast rule of thumb is 51 knot headwind, you'll be stopping for gas. Always started upper 30s, ending at fl400 for step climb.

My company only used trip winds. All this is assuming you can top it across and not go above mtow of the day.

Plane Coffee

Thanks.

I should have included that: Hawker, but any turbofan will do for this quiery.

I was probably not clear enough though. Not seeking procedural,
just the general “differences” in fuel totals people have observed over the years for their own turbofans after having flown westbound trans-cons both high & low.

Fuel consumption % differences observed between the two altitudes, after having done so many over the years. Ballpark....

HD

Really depends on winds. Higher is better, step climbs are the norm, but in some cases staying low can avoid a fuel stop if winds are howling up high.

Latitude can matter too if the jet stream is low (altitude and latitude). That nice great circle route might have you swimming upstream for half the trip.