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2 Answers

Flight Planning – What altitude to choose

Asked by: 2969 views General Aviation

I fly a Piper Meridian.  When flight planning I am basing my cruise altitude on head or tailwind, burn rate and flight time.  Lately going west into the winds I have been flying pretty low.  In a discussion recently, another pilot said I should be using the 10% rule for figuring my cruise altitude.  So a 160NM flight, I should be at 16,000.  He also seemed more concerned with TAS which he feels the higher altitudes yields.  Who's right here?  When I'm flight planning, these higher altitudes are showing me more fuel burn and a longer flight time, but I am having a hard time locating on the internet where I can show him my logic seems more sound than his.  Help....

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2 Answers



  1. John D Collins on Dec 03, 2014

    Block to Block speed and fuel burned would my criteria. I would take the most efficient altitude unless other factors were involved such as turbulence, icing conditions, and or weather were considerations. TAS is just one factor in determining the altitude one would chose, but it can be counter productive if it results in more fuel or time of flight.

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  2. Russ Roslewski on Dec 04, 2014

    I think you answered your own question: “these higher altitudes are showing me more fuel burn and a longer flight time”. As John mentions, unless you have safety considerations like icing, mountains, or weather, what else would you base your decision on? Time and Fuel ARE the major planning factors.

    TAS does increase relative to IAS as you get higher, but so what? If you get there faster and using less fuel flying lower (safety considerations considered), why wouldn’t your friend do that?

    You’re on the right track. The altitude for each flight should be handled on a case-by-case basis, just like you’ve done.

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