Aero42 From United States of America, joined Oct 2000, 18 posts, RR: 0 Posted (12 years 7 months 4 weeks 1 day 11 hours ago) and read 32767 times:
I'm doing a research project and am trying to find the fuel consumption of a Boeing 737 in gallons/hour or liters/hour in the various phases of flight. I swear you'd think this was top secret or something, I can't find this stuff anywhere. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Prebennorholm From Denmark, joined Mar 2000, 6039 posts, RR: 55 Reply 1, posted (12 years 7 months 4 weeks 16 hours ago) and read 32767 times:
Oh, Aero42, you will have to be much more specific for having any numerical values on this subject.
First the 737 has been built in nine different major configurations named 737-100 up to 737-900 (the 900 not in service yet).
Some of the nine types have been made for various maximum weights. Obviously those with a lighter max weight don't need to be as strong here and there, and are consequently built lighter, and visa versa.
Most of the types have come with slightly different engine subtypes, some optimised for economy, some for hot&high performance.
The actual load (payload + fuel load) means a lot to fuel consumption.
The altitude, at which you fly, also means a lot. Most often the flight crew don't decide that, ATC controlers do.
Often, because of other traffic, you have to change altitude several times during a flight, it costs fuel.
Different airlines equip their planes with different interior of different weight.
Some airports restrict climbout to minimise noise. Often it means more fuel consumption because flaps must be extended for a longer time.
Are you allowed a straight in landing, or does ATC put you on hold and tell you to descend one flight level at a time, and do it as fast as possible making room for the one above you.
At what speed do you fly? In calm weather there is an optimum speed. There are other optimum speeds for any amount of headwind or tailwind.
Have you had enough? Or should I also mention air temperature and humidity? Small factors, but noticeable.
Of course the fuel consumption at level flight also goes down all way during the flight simply because the plane get lighter as more and more fuel has been burned.
You can have thousands of answers to your question.
How much fuel will be needed for a flight, that is something the flight crew calculates according to all these variables before every flight even if they have flown the same sector a hundred times before. And after the landing they sometimes are surprised about how wrong they calculated.
But whatever calculations you may do, then you should come out with the result that the 737-600 is probably the most economic airliner considering fuel burn per hour, while the similar sized 737-200 is a real fuel guzzler.
Did it help? At least it didn't answer your question.
But anyway, let me give you an answer: 1000 - 2000 US gallons/hour depending on circumstances.
Best regards, Preben Norholm
Always keep your number of landings equal to your number of take-offs, Preben Norholm
Aero42 From United States of America, joined Oct 2000, 18 posts, RR: 0 Reply 2, posted (12 years 7 months 4 weeks 14 hours ago) and read 32767 times:
Yikes, I didn't think it'd be this complicated. I guess to try and be a little more specific, I'd like to get the data for the most common 737 variant. I think it's the 400, but I could be wrong. Also, I'm basically looking for an average value, one that would be given in the ops manual for the different flight phases. In general I'd be looking at roughly a full passenger load with a full fuel load on takeoff and nearly empty on arrival. I to be a little more clear, I need something realistic, but not specific. (It's more or less an estimation, I'll worry about getting a more targeted estimate once this project gets a little further along. Thanks for your response.
Laxintl From United States of America, joined May 2000, 22236 posts, RR: 51 Reply 3, posted (12 years 7 months 3 weeks 4 days 17 hours ago) and read 32767 times:
The current most common 737 is the 737-300. Here are some very rough values, that a certain airline uses to compute manual flight plans incase the computer system fails.
Climb - 2950lbs / 15mins
Cruise - 5500lbs/hr
Descent - 600lbs / 20mins
Hold - 2650 / 30mins
Alternate - 1950 / 20mins
Min arrival fuel - 6300lbs
Recomended arrival fuel - 8300lbs
These numbers were based on a 27000lbs payload (approx 130pax plus bags)
From the desert to the sea, to all of Southern California
Aero42 From United States of America, joined Oct 2000, 18 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (12 years 7 months 3 weeks 2 days 13 hours ago) and read 32767 times:
Thanks very much for your help, that was just what I needed!
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