What is Flight Optimizer?
Flight Optimizer is a tool to help aircraft owners and operators find THE BEST way to fly each trip.
What do you mean by "best"?
The best method to fly each trip will vary for each operator. For some, this just means the fastest way to get from Point A to Point B regardless of cost. For many others, this will be the best compromise between speed and efficiency to yield the cheapest way to fly the plane without adding too much extra time to the flight.
How does it work?
Flight Optimizer looks at every feature of the flight (weight, temperature, and winds during climb/cruise/descent) to calculate the best way to fly that trip. It weighs trade-offs between fuel savings and extra time on the airframe/engines to give you the best altitude and power setting for each flight. It gives you options for best total cost, fastest time, and lowest fuel burn at every possible altitude so you can pick the combination that's best for you.
Don't other flight planning programs already do this?
No. There are many flight planning programs that do a very good job of estimating time and fuel burn for a trip under one set of performance figures and at one set of atmospheric conditions. However, there are no other programs that take into account ALL of the factors that affect each flight, such as a full set of power settings at each altitude and the resulting speeds and fuel burns at different temperatures, aircraft weight, different climb and descent profiles, and winds aloft.
Also, no other program weighs the trade-offs between the fuel efficiencies at different altitudes and power settings compared to the extra costs imposed by adding more time to the aircraft. Flight Optimizer does all of this while also taking into account the price of the fuel being burned on each flight.
How much difference can Flight Optimizer really make?
Operator’s typically see savings of $10 - $250 per leg by following the profile suggested by Flight Optimizer compared to what they would have done without it. These savings are often gained with a negligible addition to the total flight time. Try it yourself for free and see what it can save you.
Won't the "best" altitude and power settings always be the same?
Almost no two flights are exactly the same. Even if you constantly fly the same passengers over the same route, there are still many changing factors such as temperature, winds, and fuel prices that form an infinite number of combinations affecting your trip. This can often mean the difference of hundreds of dollars per leg if you always flew the same route the same way.