Briefing Fuel Plan
Casual & abovePersonal fuel planning built right into your briefing — how much you have, how much you need, and exactly what to tell the truck.
What Is It?
The Briefing Fuel Plan is a lightweight fuel card that lives in your weather briefing under Route & Fuel. You enter your fuel on board, and PlaneWX calculates everything else: how much you need to be safe, exactly how much to add at the airport, the estimated burn, and what you'll land with.
It's separate from the Fuel Advisor — the Advisor finds the best fuel stop route for cross-country flights. The Briefing Fuel Plan is for any flight where you already know your route and just want a clear, at-a-glance fuel picture before you depart.
Your numbers, not a default. The plan is personal — it never appears on shared or crew views. Nothing is saved until you tap Save. You can always edit or remove the plan later.
How to Add a Fuel Plan
Open a briefing
On any Casual+ trip you own that doesn't already have a fuel plan, scroll to the bottom of the briefing. You'll see a dashed Route & Fuel card with an Add fuel plan button.
Check your aircraft profile
The button is enabled only when your aircraft profile has both a fuel capacity and a cruise fuel burn set. If the button is grayed out, tap it and follow the link to your aircraft settings to fill in those numbers.
Enter your fuel on board
Type how much fuel you have right now — before you go to the FBO. PlaneWX calculates everything from there.
Review the numbers and save
The card shows your Required FOB, how much to add at your departure airport, estimated burn, and estimated landing fuel. Tap Save when the plan looks right.
Save promotes to the required FOB. If the fuel you entered is below what you need for the leg plus reserve, tapping Save automatically records the Required FOB as your planned departure fuel — so you always depart with a safe load.
Understanding Each Field
W&B Max
Current FOB
Required FOB
Add at [Airport]
Est. burn
Est. FOD
Quick Actions
Use required
Fills Current FOB to the Required FOB in one tap. Useful when you want to verify the Est. FOD before saving, or when you want to fuel exactly to the minimum safe load.
Fill to W&B max
Sets Current FOB to the W&B max (or full tanks if no max is set). A good choice when destination weather looks challenging and you want maximum divert margin.
Weather tip shown automatically. When the fuel advisory is active, the card reminds you to consider extra fuel if you expect storms at your destination or a possible divert. The Required FOB is the minimum — you can always load more.
Multi-Leg Journeys
If your trip is part of a linked journey — for example, KGDJ → KDTS → KGDJ — the fuel plan carries forward automatically when you save Leg 1. Leg 2's departure fuel is set to Leg 1's landing fuel plus the add-at-destination amount, so you don't have to recalculate the chain by hand.
Mid-journey legs
The destination line shows FOD · add N for next leg. The add amount is whatever you need so the following leg departs safely fueled.
Last leg (return)
The destination line shows FOD · add N to restore X FOB — restoring your home-base FOB so you know exactly what the tanks will hold when you land.
You can still edit each leg independently. Editing a leg updates that leg's plan; the sibling carry is applied fresh each time you save Leg 1. Downstream legs with no plan yet will be pre-filled when you add them.
Fuel Summary on the Dashboard
Once a fuel plan is saved, each leg card on your home dashboard shows a one-line fuel summary:
The full picture — what you depart with, what you land with, and what to add — at a glance without opening the briefing.
Aircraft Profile Requirements
The Briefing Fuel Plan needs two numbers from your aircraft profile:
Fuel Capacity (Usable Gallons)
Cruise Fuel Flow (GPH)
If either value is missing, the Add fuel plan button is disabled with a note to update your aircraft profile.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this the same as the Fuel Advisor?
No. The Fuel Advisor finds multi-stop routes for cross-country flights. The Briefing Fuel Plan is a personal fuel card for any single leg — it shows up in the briefing you already have, with no route planning needed.
Can my crew or watcher see my fuel plan?
No. The fuel plan is personal. It never appears on shared or read-only briefing views.
What happens if I save with less fuel than the leg requires?
Save automatically promotes your departure fuel to the Required FOB so you always record a safe departure load. The advisory shows you the gap before you tap Save.
Can I delete a fuel plan?
Not yet — editing is available (tap Edit in the Route & Fuel card), but deletion is coming in a future update.
Does the reserve include alternate fuel or extra padding?
No. Required FOB = leg burn + the reserve you've configured on your aircraft profile (time-based or fuel-quantity). Adding extra for a potential divert or destination weather is your call — the Fill to W&B max button makes it easy.
Tips
- Enter your fuel before you leave for the airport — the advisory tells you what to add before you even pull up to the truck.
- For challenging weather or unfamiliar destinations, tap Fill to W&B max to give yourself the maximum divert margin.
- On a multi-leg journey, add the fuel plan to Leg 1 first — the numbers carry forward to the return leg automatically.
- Keep your aircraft's cruise GPH current. A stale burn rate produces a stale Est. FOD.
Fuel planning is your responsibility. Estimates are based on your aircraft profile and a simple burn model (distance ÷ TAS × GPH). Actual fuel burn varies with winds, power settings, weight, density altitude, and other factors. Always verify fuel loads against your POH, applicable regulations, and your own judgment before flight.
PlaneWX fuel calculations are a planning aid — the pilot in command is always responsible for ensuring adequate fuel.