PLT413: Fuel Requirements
What code PLT413 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Fuel Requirements before your checkride.
Recall regulations - fuel requirements
What this means for your checkride
VFR fuel minimums require enough fuel to fly to the first point of intended landing and then, at normal cruise, for at least 30 minutes by day or 45 minutes at night. IFR requires fuel to the destination, then to the most distant required alternate, then 45 minutes at normal cruise beyond that.
Fuel exhaustion is a preventable killer, so the FAA tests the VFR and IFR reserve requirements.
Pilots count the reserve as usable trip fuel. The 30, 45, or IFR reserves are minimums to remain untouched on arrival, computed at normal cruise, not best-case burn.
Where to study it
A code on your test report is an area of deficiency. An authorized instructor must review it with you and endorse that review before you take the practical test, and the examiner may revisit it during the oral. Study it until you can explain it out loud, not just recognize the answer.