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Another good cross-country

airguy

Unrepentant fanboy
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I was up in Boise Idaho yesterday taking care of a little business, and flew back this morning to my home base in west Texas 73XS.

1,009 nautical miles - the return trip at 17,000' took me 5.9 hours nonstop burning only 39 gallons of fuel. You can't beat that with a stick.

During the trip home my tach rolled over 1000 hours (hobbs is a bit shy - I bought the engine with 105 hours on it). Saw a lot of pretty country and the MOA's were cold today so after Moab UT on the way back I was given direct destination - more than 600 miles away.

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N16GN/history/20220209/1654Z/KBOI/73XS
 

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Convert that

Converting that to statute miles, that is 29.75 mpg as the crow flies. Now that is impressive!
 
I can't recall . . . you do have extra fuel tanks don't you?

That is a sweet trip, long time in the seat, that 9 really shines at 17k!
 
I can't recall . . . you do have extra fuel tanks don't you?

That is a sweet trip, long time in the seat, that 9 really shines at 17k!

Yes I have the standard 18 gallon inboards for the 9A, and then I have a pair of outboards at 16.5 gallons each. After the 1000 nautical mile trip I still landed with 30 gallons on board.
 
Yes I have the standard 18 gallon inboards for the 9A, and then I have a pair of outboards at 16.5 gallons each. After the 1000 nautical mile trip I still landed with 30 gallons on board.

Greg, do you have a build log online on how you did the outboard tanks with the prepunched holes? Are they permanently mounted?
 
Greg, do you have a build log online on how you did the outboard tanks with the prepunched holes? Are they permanently mounted?

I don't have it online anymore, but I do have a full builders log with almost 3000 pictures, I'll be happy to share any of that with you. I'll PM you my email address.

I followed the Pat Tuckey design he did for his 8, modified a bit for the 9 wing. On the outboard sections I eliminated 5 internal structural ribs and replaced them with 7 fuel ribs, added a baffle plate to the rear exactly as the inboards have, bolted it to the spar with Z-brackets, and then riveted it to the wing. The outboard tanks are not removable - if I develop a bad leak in them I'll just abandon them in place. I calculated 16 additional gallons each side, but the pump says I'm actually putting 16.5 in each one.

CAUTION - this puts a lot more mass further out on the wing. That will affect spin recovery adversely and severely. It also greatly increases the bending moment on the wing root during ground ops with fuel in the outboards - I do not land with fuel in the outboards, I only load enough there to burn before my next planned landing. Study the numbers very carefully on the CG effect for your plane.
 
Data data

So from the data, looks like your climb was 800 feet per min at 160's mph for 20 min.
The descent was started 100 miles, 30 min, out at 500 feet per minute.

So when i get my plane flying, it seems these high altitudes only make sense for very long trips of 3 hours or more. But this depends on fuel flow at higher altitudes. Something to work on during my flight testing. I will need to make sure I have a flight test area big enough to do a 3 hour leg. ;-)
(I wonder if i can get a 500 mile square flight test box!!!!)

Although i do have the training wheel up front, may not be as fast
 
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So from the data, looks like your climb was 800 feet per min at 160's mph for 20 min.
The descent was started 100 miles, 30 min, out at 500 feet per minute.

At takeoff I had the climb set to 1000/min until about 9000' or thereabouts - then I reduced it to 800, and down to 600 at around 11,000'. I levelled at 17,000' climbing at 400/min. Indicated airspeed throughout the climb was in the low-100's to mid-90's with good engine cooling.

I usually do a 1000/min descent from altitude, but I had such a good tailwind (and was getting cold from 8 degrees F ambient) that I did a shallower longer descent profile this time.

But to your point, high altitude cruise does require some vertical planning, yes.
 
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So from the data, looks like your climb was 800 feet per min at 160's mph for 20 min.
The descent was started 100 miles, 30 min, out at 500 feet per minute.

Still, it was only 22 minutes from takeoff to levelling at 17,000 feet, and I was loaded pretty heavy. Solo with about 50 pounds in the baggage compartment and 69 gallons of fuel.
 
So from the data, looks like your climb was 800 feet per min at 160's mph for 20 min.
The descent was started 100 miles, 30 min, out at 500 feet per minute.

So when i get my plane flying, it seems these high altitudes only make sense for very long trips of 3 hours or more. But this depends on fuel flow at higher altitudes. Something to work on during my flight testing. I will need to make sure I have a flight test area big enough to do a 3 hour leg. ;-)
(I wonder if i can get a 500 mile square flight test box!!!!)

Although i do have the training wheel up front, may not be as fast

You’re still used to certified birds. I’ll go to 13,000-15,000 for an hour flight if it makes sense, lots of times you can take a headwind and make it a crosswind and along with the lesser fuel burn you get there faster on less fuel. If I’m flying a skyhawk for a shorter distance I’ll double the time and fuel, longer distance 200+ at least triple. Pretty amazing range at less than 7 GPH even with stock tanks when you utilize altitude.
Hard to wrap your head around the real performance of these RV’s until you start using them. You’ll smoke a Carolla with MPG rating with any 2 seat RV.
Just flew KC to ATL in a smidge over 3 hours and about 22 gallons, left with full fuel. With stock tanks I can leave the $7 fuel in ATL and easily fly an hourish west for $4ish fuel with an 1+ reserve. A top off there I’ll land st home base 3 hours later just under 1/2 tanks.
I know it sounds like lies but it’s true. While finishing the airplane I wasn’t sure I’ld be able to afford to fly it, as it turns out it’s almost hard to fly it enough.
 
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6 hrs is a long flight. after only 3.5 hrs, I have to take a couple minutes to prepare for landing.... stretch, take some water, wiggle the rudder, etc.
 
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