POH
AQUILA AT01-200C
Section 5
PERFORMANCE
Document Nr.:
Issue:
Supersedes Issue:
Date:
Page:
FM-AT01-1010-106
A.01
--- (first issue)
02.03.2020
5 - 19
CRUISE
Cruise altitude is chosen under consideration of flight distance, en-route winds and aircraft
performance. In this flight-planning example, a typical cruise altitude and en-route wind
condition has been chosen.
The range diagram 5.2.11 on page 5-13 shows the relationship between the engine power
setting and the maximum achievable range. Lower power settings result in considerable fuel
savings and thus greater achievable ranges.
Applying this chart to our example, a power setting of 75 % and a pressure altitude of 9500 ft
give a maximum range of 541 NM at a true airspeed of 129 KTAS. The true airspeed at cruise
was obtained from chart 5.2.8 on page 5-10 taking into account the atmospheric conditions
(outside air temperature and chosen cruise pressure altitude) and the chosen power setting.
The maximum possible flight endurance is obtained from chart 5.2.10 on page 5-12. In our
example, the maximum endurance is 4.31 hours (4 h 19 min) at a power setting of 75 %. This
maximum flight endurance and the maximum flight range determined above include 30 minutes
of reserve at a power setting of 55 %, engine start-up / taxiing, take-off, climb, cruise, descent
and landing.
Taking the reported tailwind of 10 kts in 9500 ft into account, the maximum achievable range of
541 NM must be corrected as follows:
Range with no wind
541.0 NM
Range increase due to 10 kts tailwind (4.31 h x 10 kts)
+43.1 NM
584.1 NM
This shows that, for a flight over a distance of 480 NM at a cruise power setting of 75 %, the
fuel reserve is sufficient.
DESCENT
Chart 5.2.12 on page 5-14 is used to calculate time, distance and fuel consumption for the
descent segment. In our flight-planning example, descent is initiated at cruise altitude (9500 ft)
and ends at 380 ft. During descent, the altimeter setting must be adjusted to local QNH.
Descent duration:............................ 12.5 min – 0.5 min = 12.0 min
Descent distance:........................... .28 NM – 1.0 NM = 27 NM
Fuel required: ………………………..1.75 ltr – 0.1 ltr = 1.65 ltr
0.47 US gal – 0.03 US gal = 0.44 US gal
