If fuel consumption is 80 pounds per hour and groundspeed is 180 knots, how much fuel is required to travel 460 NM?

To determine the amount of fuel required to travel 460 nautical miles at a groundspeed of 180 knots, you first need to calculate the time it takes to make the journey. This can be done by dividing the distance by the groundspeed.

Time (hours) = Distance (NM) / Grounds speed (knots)

Plugging in the values:

Time = 460 NM / 180 knots = 2.5556 hours (approximately)

Next, you determine the total fuel consumption by multiplying the time by the fuel consumption rate. Given that fuel consumption is 80 pounds per hour, the calculation will be:

Fuel required (pounds) = Time (hours) × Fuel consumption rate (pounds/hour)

This translates to:

Fuel required = 2.5556 hours × 80 pounds/hour = 204.448 pounds

Rounding to the nearest whole number gives approximately 205 pounds of fuel needed for the trip. Thus, the correct answer is indeed 205 pounds, which corresponds with the provided answer. This calculation process illustrates how to establish a relationship between groundspeed, time, and fuel consumption to accurately estimate fuel needs for a flight.