AI Assisted
Definition
A unit of fuel flow expressing the volume of fuel, in U.S. gallons, that an engine consumes in one hour of operation at a given power setting and mixture.
Plain English
How many gallons of fuel the engine burns in one hour. If an engine is using 10 GPH, it burns 10 gallons of fuel every hour it runs at that setting.
Context Anchor
Seen in performance charts, especially climb and cruise charts, when planning fuel needed for a flight.
Why Pilots Care
Allows pilots to calculate total fuel required for a flight, estimate endurance, and plan reserves.
Intuition Check
Do not read GPH as the total fuel on board. It is a rate: gallons used each hour.
Example Sentence 1
At 75 percent power and 7,000 feet, the chart showed a fuel burn of 11.5 GPH.
Example Sentence 2
The pilot added the expected GPH to the climb and cruise legs to complete the fuel log.