PREFLIGHT» ASI NEWS Fuel for thought Cross-country flight planning considerations YOU DON’T EXPECT to run out of fuel. But perhaps you’ve encountered a stiff headwind—much stronger than planned for—adding additional flight time to your trip. Now fuel is getting low. What do you do? Your calculations look hopeful—there’s still enough fuel to make it to your destination—maybe. You’ve been receiving flight following from ATC, but you’re wondering if you should tell them about your fuel status? And what do you say? When it comes to communicating a low fuel situation to air traffic control, words matter; and what you say is as important as when you say it. In this Air Safety Institute Ask ATC: Minimum Fuel vs. Fuel Emergency video clip, you’ll learn why you want to talk to ATC and how they can help when things don’t go as you had expected (www.airsafetyinstitute.org/askatc/fuel). Additionally, you might want to prime your next flight with “ASI’s Golden Hour Fuel Reserve.” It means planning to land with at least one hour of fuel in the tanks, even if it means making an intermediate stop before continuing to your destination. Find additional fuel management-related resources at the “Fuel Management Safety Spotlight” (www.airsafetyinstitute.org/fuelspotlight). AOPA ACTION FAA urged to align airspace actions with VFR chart updates Certain chart elements could be outdated under current policy THE FAA COULD reduce the risk of midair collisions by overhauling its practice of implementing military airspace actions on timetables not aligned with VFR chart update cycles, AOPA said. Several examples of airspace actions taking effect from three to six months before VFR charts depicted the changes occurred in 2012, marking an alarming trend. They include establishment of Restricted Areas R-5402 and R-5403A-F in North Dakota; the Meridian 2 East and West Military Operations Areas (MOAs) in Mississippi; and the Bulldog C and E MOAs in Georgia. Failing to align airspace actions with charting cycles is more of a risk to VFR flights than to IFR operations because new IFR en route charts are published every 56 days. Also, IFR flights usually are in contact with air traffic control. 14 / FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORGhttp://www.gleim.com/AOPA_FT http://www.Trade-A-Plane.com http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/askatc/fuel http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/fuelspotlight http://FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG