How to change Bingo fuel quantity

[mr_mojo97]

As above, can't find it in the manual. Ta

[Eddie]

Remember a different number. ;)

 

Seriously, there is no automated bingo/joker alert in the A-10C. It's all done by just watching the fuel gauge and calculating your joker/bingo in planning.

[mr_mojo97]

Thanks for that, Eddie. Out of interest in RL is this the same for A-10 pilots? Is a number plucked out of thin air depending on how far the bullseye is from a base or tanker? Or is the minimum poundage for a betty's bingo callout a generice figure? Also how does a pilot calculate fuel consumption and time left by mental arithmatic or is all that calculated in mission planner too? Ta

[shagrat]

Thanks for that, Eddie. Out of interest in RL is this the same for A-10 pilots? Is a number plucked out of thin air depending on how far the bullseye is from a base or tanker? Or is the minimum poundage for a betty's bingo callout a generice figure? Also how does a pilot calculate fuel consumption and time left by mental arithmatic or is all that calculated in mission planner too? Ta

What Eddie said, refered to the RL A-10C. The pilot needs to calculate the fuel consumption "on-the-fly"... the fuel warning simply kicks off with 1000 pounds remaining, which means no guarantee to make it back to base...:music_whistling:

[GGTharos]

No, the pilot doesn't calculate consumption on the fly. He can and should, but it's all pre-planned.

 

You take the -1 (or if you're a real pilot, probably other, classified supplements), figure out the drag index and weight of your plane, then look at the fuel consumption charts based on various altitudes and you compute fuel to get there, fuel available for combat, and fuel needed to return to main/alternate with a reserve enough to last you for a half hour of loiter or something like that. That bold part is your bingo.

[Eddie]

Thanks for that, Eddie. Out of interest in RL is this the same for A-10 pilots? Is a number plucked out of thin air depending on how far the bullseye is from a base or tanker? Or is the minimum poundage for a betty's bingo callout a generice figure? Also how does a pilot calculate fuel consumption and time left by mental arithmatic or is all that calculated in mission planner too? Ta

 

It's NEVER plucked out of thin air, it is very much calculated based on payload, distance, altitude profile etc. etc. This is all done during planning not in flight, although pilots can and should be able to review/adjust the figures "on the fly", if the situation dictates.

 

If you ever hear the min fuel warning from betty, it means you've screwed up and let your fuel go far too low. The min landing fuel that is ever planned is 1100 lbs, normally a landing min of 2000lbs is planned.

[shagrat]

No, the pilot doesn't calculate consumption on the fly. He can and should, but it's all pre-planned.

 

You take the -1 (or if you're a real pilot, probably other, classified supplements), figure out the drag index and weight of your plane, then look at the fuel consumption charts based on various altitudes and you compute fuel to get there, fuel available for combat, and fuel needed to return to main/alternate with a reserve enough to last you for a half hour of loiter or something like that. That bold part is your bingo.

some CAS missions had me divert and it is quite useful to, at least roughly, know how much this diversion eats into your reserve. To tell the JTAC time on station for example.

Other missions have divert airfields, I will not say I calculate the fuel consumptions, but I monitor the available fuel and usually to know a 1600 pounds remaining is good enough to go a distance likeTshkinvali - Tbilisi helps to make decisions... :D

But considering typical missions you won't fly 20 min further into russian airspace, you should be able to pretty much pre-plan your fuel needs.

 

Since I'm a bit lazy and maths is not one of my core competencies, most of the time the rule of thumbs "if the needles go below 2x2000 finish what your doing and head back" pretty much did the job so far.:music_whistling:

[mr_mojo97]

how does fuel consumption get measured, gallons/ litres per hour ?

[JesseJames38]

Also keep a eye on your engine guages. they where nice enouf to install a fuel flow indicator. With this gauge you are able to tell how much fuel you are burning. and in turn know how long you can fly at the current power setting. Knowing how much time you have at the curret power setting you can look at your speed and figure out the distance you can fly. At least this works out well for me to figure out if i have enouf fuel to make the return trip home, or to start worring about deverting to another airfield to land.

 

Jesse.

Edited March 17, 2013 by JesseJames38
a few spelling errors

[Eddie]

how does fuel consumption get measured, gallons/ litres per hour ?

 

Pounds per hour.

[Zenra]

Pounds per hour.

 

...and you have a very convenient pair of gauges among your engine instruments that reads out exactly that - fuel flow to each engine in pounds per hour. Add the values displayed on each and divide the total pounds remaining by the sum and you get how long you can theoretically remain flying at your current altitude, throttle setting, etc.

[Faelwolf]

Or you can use a E6B. They're not expensive, and make short work of these kind of calculations.

Link to a nice one on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/ASA-E6B-Metal-Flight-Computer/dp/B003ZFSJ3M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363614626&sr=8-1&keywords=e6b+flight+computer If the missions you are flying has you cutting it close a lot of the time, it might be worth looking in to.

 

Considering that a lot of info is displayed on the HUD that you would use a E6B to figure out, I find it a bit curious that there is no time to bingo that can be set up and displayed. My wife's car even displays an estimated miles left to E based on the fuel gauge and average MPG. Since we have both fuel quantity and flow gauges in the A-10, the real time data is available to the system to do the calculations for the display.

Between the TAD and the CDU you can almost book dinner, hotel, and hooker reservations so you'd think it would be in there somewhere. :)

[Eddie]

Even better, if you have a smart phone/iPad you can get an electronic E6B app. Makes mission planning and on the fly calculations much easier.

[Faelwolf]

Oh you kids with yer newfangled devices! :D

[mr_mojo97]

Ah that'd be the same as a UK CRP 1 and 5 flight computer I. I sold one of these on eBay a couple of years ago as well. Damn, then again, I might just get an iPad mini (which would fit niceley in my pit) so I could have iControl CDU then flip a page for this E6B. Well I know where my tax rebate is going to!! Just don't tell the missus!!