UAM.OP.VCA.191 Fuel/energy scheme – fuel/energy planning and fuel/energy in-flight replanning

The IAM operator shall ensure that:

(a) the VCA carries a sufficient amount of usable fuel/energy and reserves to safely complete the planned flight and to allow for deviations from the planned operation;

(b) the planned amount of usable fuel/energy for the intended flight is based on all the following:

(1) fuel/energy consumption data provided in the AFM or current aircraft-specific data derived from a fuel/energy consumption monitoring system;

(2) the conditions under which the flight is to be operated, including but not limited to:

(i) performance required for the intended flight to the destination, including vertiports, diversion locations or operating sites, selected along the route;

(ii) anticipated masses;

(iii) NOTAMs;

(iv) anticipated meteorological conditions;

(v) the effects of deferred maintenance items in accordance with the IAM operator’s MEL and/or of configuration deviations in accordance with the IAM operator’s CDL;

(vi) the expected departure and arrival routing, and anticipated delays;

(3) the efficiency and capacity of energy storage devices for the planned operating conditions, considering degradation of those energy storage devices as appropriate;

(c) the pre-flight calculation of the usable fuel/energy and reserves for a flight includes:

(1) taxi fuel/energy that shall not be less than the amount expected to be used prior to take-off;

(2) trip fuel/energy that shall be the amount of fuel/energy that is needed to enable the aircraft to fly from take-off, or from the point of in-flight replanning, to landing at the destination vertiport, diversion location or operating site, taking into account the operating conditions of point (b)(2);

(3) contingency fuel/energy that shall be the amount of fuel/energy needed to compensate for unforeseen factors that could have an influence on the fuel/energy consumption to the destination vertiport, diversion location or operating site;

(4) final reserve fuel/energy that shall be determined based on all the following:

(i) a representative time provided in the AFM to perform a go-around from a landing decision point (LDP) and back to that LDP taking into account the certified minimum performance (CMP) of the VCA;

(ii) conservative ambient conditions from the point of view of fuel/energy consumption;

(iii) an appropriate configuration/speed to perform the go-around and approach procedures;

(iv) a conservative fuel/energy consumption;

(5) additional fuel/energy that shall be the amount of fuel/energy to enable the VCA to perform a safe landing at a vertiport, diversion location or operating site, selected along the route, taking into account the CMP of the VCA at any point of the route; this additional fuel/energy is required only if the amount of fuel/energy that is calculated according to points (c)(2) and (c)(3) is not sufficient for such event;

(6) extra fuel/energy to take into account anticipated delays or specific operational constraints; and

(7) discretionary fuel/energy, if required by the PIC;

(d) if a flight must proceed along a route or to a destination vertiport, diversion location or operating site other than that originally planned, in-flight replanning procedures for calculating the required usable fuel/energy include those referred to in point (b)(2) and in points (c)(2) to (6).