The wife is flying back from NYC, and I generally get on flightradar24 and follow progress when anyone is flying.

Happened to click on a plane, a Gulfstream. According to the track, it took off from near Columbus, OH, went west, turned south in Brewster, KS, east near Big Spring, TX, South near Tallahassee, east over Naples, FL and North over WPB. Altitudes 47K plus from when I have been tracking

Tail No. N537GD, owned by Gulf Stream. Could this be a verrrrrry long test flight?

Sure looks like a test flight to me.

It was supposed to make a left turn at Albuquerque.

List price 43.5 million. Chump change!

Meanwhile, her Delta flight was circling south of Tampa for 30-40 minutes and gets diverted to Sarasota. Low on fuel.

This is the second time in a couple of months she has been diverted. Am I supposed to believe that a commercial flight only has that much reserve? It could be hours to get a routing from Sarasota to Tampa

quote:

Originally posted by dlc444:
... Am I supposed to believe that a commercial flight only has that much reserve? It could be hours to get a routing from Sarasota to Tampa

They need enough fuel to reach the destination, plus the diversion airport in the flight plan, plus an additional 45 minutes.

So after 30 to 40 minutes of hold, they had to divert.

Certainly the aircraft may be able to hold more fuel, but extra weight = extra costs to fly.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/91.167

§ 91.167 Fuel requirements for flight in IFR conditions.
(a) No person may operate a civil aircraft in IFR conditions unless it carries enough fuel (considering weather reports and forecasts and weather conditions) to -

(1) Complete the flight to the first airport of intended landing;

(2) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, fly from that airport to the alternate airport; and

(3) Fly after that for 45 minutes at normal cruising speed or, for helicopters, fly after that for 30 minutes at normal cruising speed.

(b)Paragraph (a)(2) of this section does not apply if:

(1)Part 97 of this chapter prescribes a standard instrument approach procedure to, or a special instrument approach procedure has been issued by the Administrator to the operator for, the first airport of intended landing; and

(2) Appropriate weather reports or weather forecasts, or a combination of them, indicate the following:

(i)For aircraft other than helicopters. For at least 1 hour before and for 1 hour after the estimated time of arrival, the ceiling will be at least 2,000 feet above the airport elevation and the visibility will be at least 3 statute miles.

(ii)For helicopters. At the estimated time of arrival and for 1 hour after the estimated time of arrival, the ceiling will be at least 1,000 feet above the airport elevation, or at least 400 feet above the lowest applicable approach minima, whichever is higher, and the visibility will be at least 2 statute miles.

Flightradar24 is awesome. I tracked my son on a KAL flight from Inchon S. Korea non-stop to Atlanta last week.

I always track my kids when they fly using it


That gulfsream probably ended up in pooler, Ga unless something has changed I believe gulfstream is still outside of Savannah and shares runway with Savannah-Hilton Head airpor6

quote:

Originally posted by dlc444:
Meanwhile, her Delta flight was circling south of Tampa for 30-40 minutes and gets diverted to Sarasota. Low on fuel.

This is the second time in a couple of months she has been diverted. Am I supposed to believe that a commercial flight only has that much reserve? It could be hours to get a routing from Sarasota to Tampa

I believe that there are probably one or two airplanes types where you can fill the seats and fill the tanks, but they are absolutely in the minority. With almost all airplanes, it is a trade off between fuel & passengers (or cargo). Additionally, I can’t swear this number is accurate, but I believe I read that one burns up approximately 5% of the fuel he or she “tankers” to carry the extra weight. Dispatchers tend to call for the minimum legal fuel loading. If the weather is expected to be bad, or if there are delays expected for some other reason, captains will often order so extra fuel for a cushion, but it is not normal practice to carry around a lot of extra fuel.

quote:

Originally posted by dlc444:
Could this be a verrrrrry long test flight?

That's really not that long. The airplane is capable of going a LOT farther, and a LOT longer.

quote:

Originally posted by dlc444:
Meanwhile, her Delta flight was circling south of Tampa for 30-40 minutes and gets diverted to Sarasota. Low on fuel.

This is the second time in a couple of months she has been diverted. Am I supposed to believe that a commercial flight only has that much reserve? It could be hours to get a routing from Sarasota to Tampa

Who would it be "hours to get a routing from Sarasota to Tampa?" What does that mean?

There are legal requirements on the amount of fuel carried for a flight. The numbers quoted above are correct for a domestic flight, though the regulations quoted are not airline regulations.

There are numerous other considerations as to the amount of fuel that can be, or is carried on a particular flight, not the least of which is aircraft performance for takeoff and landing distances, climb performance with an engine-out, etc.

A flight is going to carry the necessary fuel, plus legal reserves; how much reserve and additional fuel depends on the nature of the flight, type of navigation involved, and expected delays. The crew will look at flight information such as weather and notices to airmen that detail runway closures or navigation facility outages, and other factors that may affect the flight, and may carry some additional fuel.

If holding takes place, diversion doesn't simply occur because the flight is "low on fuel," and it's wrong to assume the flight is "low on fuel."

When entering a hold, the crew is given an EFC or "expect further clearance" time, as well as the nature of the hold. Updates are provided, and the crew will query air traffic control as needed. If it's evident that additional holding will compromise fuel, safety, or last beyond an acceptable period, or if the cause of the hold isn't going to change, or of the destination becomes unavailable due to any number of possibilities, then the crew may elect to divert, or continue to an alternate destination.


Safety first.

Alternate airports can be before the destination or after. Some routes will use alternates enroute, sometimes several. Some alternates for certain fuel regulations aren't actually intended to be used: a "re-release" alternate is used in some cases in which part of the whole-route reserve is carried. If adequate fuel remains approaching the re-release point, the flight continues to the destination. If not, the fight lands. Lots of different fuel regulations to fit specific situations, from flights to islands with nowhere to divert, to domestic, international, visual, instrument, etc.

Steve495 has the correct answer, a few posts before this.

That is most likely what is known as a "cold soak" flight. Since these airplanes are capable of staying in the flight levels for half a day or more, they need to be sure everything still works correctly once it is completely cold soaked. They check all of the cabin systems including water, electrical and all of the wood fixtures themselves to make sure a cabinet doesn't start squeaking or a drawer starts sticking.