Duluth convention trip stats

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

Just thought I'd post some statistics form my trip to Duluth. Teresa and I went to Worthington MN to visit a great aunt then to Owatonna to meet fellow members and join them in a trip to Stanton for breakfast. From there we went on to Duluth. Our Friday night stop over was at Porter County IN were we could no longer out run or fly around a huge storm. Our second night was in Worthington. While in Duluth we flew on the poker run and a trip to the Suddan ore mine. Our return trip Saturday took us down to Chicago and on to Herrion Airport in WV were we stayed at my sisters in Hookstown PA. Our last leg home completed the next day on Sunday.

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The entire trip both ways we were being run down by storms or on our return on the last leg we actually caught a front and past through it. This is why we did not fly a straight line to Duluth though we were fairly direct on our return. I can not describe how important the 496 with XM weather we had borrowed was. Lets just say I can not imagine making this sort of trip without it.

From the Garmin 496 which was on and operating all but the first 50 miles or so. We traveled 2972 nm in 26.9 hours adding the 50 or so makes 3032 statute miles and 27.4 hours. That's an average speed of 110 mph. We burned 304 gallons which comes to 11.1 gph and paid an average of $4.28 a gallon. Highest price was $4.69, lowest was $3.27. We also blew through 11 quarts of oil or one quart every 2.5 hours. Guess it's time to figure out were that oil is leaking from.

[edbooth]

Bruce, I'll second that on the XM weather. Thanks again for your weather reports, it sure saved us a lot of miles we would have otherwise flown punching into the unknown. After a brief stop at Antigo, we flew on to Oconto, WI without further problems. I'm trying to figure out how you were punching the buttons on that Garmin and still fly the plane in that rough weather.We were banging our heads on the canopy even with the shoulder harness tight.

[jrenwick]

....I'm trying to figure out how you were punching the buttons on that Garmin and still fly the plane in that rough weather.We were banging our heads on the canopy even with the shoulder harness tight.

I have to bang my head quite a lot when I'm operating my Garmin. Maybe for Bruce, the turbulence took care of that part for him, and gave him another free hand to push the buttons!

John

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

Well remember I fly an inherently unstable platform all the time with a lot of bouncing. I'm very familiar with the 496 and know exactly what I want to see and how to make that happen. I don't push extra buttons.

Actually flying with it on the yoke in front of me in the 170 was much easier than the helicopter were it is mounted on the top of the instrument panel and to the left requiring the buttons to be pushed with your left hand which block the view of the screen while your doing it.

BTW Teresa will not touch the controls so I flew the entire flight and with all the weather we had both to and from Duluth there was a lot of button pushing gong on.

[GAHorn]

Well remember I fly an inherently unstable platform all the time with a lot of bouncing....

....and then, there's the helicopters he flies at work which help hide his fixed-wing techniques.

[170C]

Bruce, your trip stat's are interesting and got me to thinking so I will see what mine are after topping off tomorrow here at home. One thing I find interesting though is how did you manage to burn and average of 11.1 gph? I have pushed 9+ gph a few times but don't think I have gotten to 10 gph. Just curious

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

I wish I knew Frank. My numbers for flight times come right from the GPS which automatically keeps them. They are backed up to within a tenth of an hour by the log my wife kept. We started with full tanks perhaps a gallon or two from full at the lowest. The airplane is still sitting as we landed with what I estimate is 4 gallons total in both tanks but could be more. All other numbers are gallons actually added.

If I reduced the total amount by say 8 gallons to allow for less full at the start and more than I think in the tanks now my fuel rate only drops to 10.8 gph. Still very high.

I don't know why that is but contributing factors could be the following. I tend to run a slightly higher cruise power though this time for the most part I ran just about 2500 rpm. I don't get an appreciably high speed with the power I believe do to the airframe having more than average drag. The 8x6 tires don't help here.

I do not fly high with at least 3/4 of the flight time less than 3000 ft and in fact rarely over 1500 ft agl. I do not aggressively lean the engine because I've never had a tach that I could reliably tell when there was a drop and so I only lean enough to see a rise in the egt but no change in rpm.

I have a 54 pitch prop which is a semi cruise prop. With this prop it takes longer to climb to any altitude and perhaps the longer time trying to climb at higher power adds to the equation more than the coarser prop helps the cruise.

In any case unlike the oil I'm reasonably sure I'm not leaking any fuel. My exhaust stacks are a nice brown and I don't believe show an overly rich condition.

I plan to revisit the trim of my airplane not necessarily to reduce drag but to reduce fatigue pushing right pedal all the time. I'm also going to replace the tires pretty soon and might go with 7x6 rather than the 8x6s. My wife and I just like bigger tires otherwise I'd go with those puny 6x6s for the least amount of drag. And I may also have the prop repitched back to the standard 53 pitch which might make the biggest difference.

One thing I know is if I'm going to burn 11gph I wish and should be going a hell of a lot faster than the 115 mph I usually see

[Brad Brady]

Bruce,
I just read your log...cool...My buddy Paul got trapped in WX last year and landed in a wheat field on his way home with his Eagle DW1 spray plane. So he bought a 496 with all the bells and whistles last fall. (total cost around $4700.00) This spring he bought a I-Phone and is really ticked.....the I-Phone does everything that the 496 does.....at a cost of $30 a month for a full hook up to WX and the mapping system Ag pilots need.....(also there is an AP for that)......By the way you were just about thirty miles from me on your Chicago leg and didn't stop by and say HI. I'm depressed .....Brad

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

Brad, if I'd only known I wouldn't have been able to just fly-by.

As for the XM weather. Yes there is getting to be quite a bit more equipment that will display it. And if your just after XM the 496 is an expensive way to go. But usually there is a bit more to it. I've yet to see a piece of equipment that has software to display all the information I want when flying in a manner that I can us easily while flying. With a 496 it is easy to see the current METARS at every airport that has weather. METARS can give you a better picture sometimes than radar. Of course TAFs are available as well.

There is lots more information I use on the 496. Radio frequencies can be easily found for all airport as well as runway information. Then there is the AOPA directory built in which is invaluable information when your traveling cross country without a particular destination in mind or you need to sit down and wait out the weather. At one airport in Indiana I called two hotels while still in the cockpit to find no taxi service and no way to get to the hotels. We quickly departed for another airport.

Bet your friend still uses his 496 in the plane not his IPhone. And if he doesn't the 496 is holding it's value much more that the IPhone is so he should be able to sell it and recoup most of his money.

[170C]

I did some calculations on our trip after filling up at GPM (Grand Prairie, TX) this morning while doing an oil/filter change. We flew from Grand Prairie, TX to Cabool, MO then to Clarion, IA & to Owatonna, MN followed by the flight to Stanton, MN & then to Duluth. I didn't fly 888A on the poker run because good friend Bob Coats offered to have me ride with him in he & Carol's award winning C-170 (nice plane!). We had flown with Bob, Carol, Ron & Connie & Ed & Mary from Cabool to Duluth. We did fly out to Madeline Island, WI & a few miles beyond the island out by some of the other islands. Ole Pokey/888A didn't skip a beat during that over water flight, but there was some pucker power working as many of the islands had total tree covered land with no beach's for emergency landings. We left Duluth on Sat morning in questionable weather, but thanks to Ken Peck's navigation we made it to better conditions after about an hour (seemed like a week!) to Fairmount,MN & then Becky & I flew to Milliard, NB. NIce airport, but highest gas prices of the entire trip ($4.45/gal). This was really the only fly in the ointment of the entire trip---Enterprise Car Rental was to have dropped us a car there, but they didn't and it being 1:00 on Sat the outlying car rental locations all were closed so we were forced to fly over to the big airport (OMA) in Omaha, NB in order to get a car. Went to the SAC Air Museum there about 20-30 miles from OMA. Nice museum with some unique planes (B-36, B-58, B-45 & others)..Left OMA Sunday morning & flew to Sand Springs, OK, just west of Tulsa for fuel & lunch, then on home to GPM. Virtually all smooth air, cool temps and varying tail winds except some of the Sat am flight from Duluth to Fairmount. As we came down into DFW class B it got hot & bumpy (103 deg's). Approximately 2300 air miles; 203 gallons of fuel; $730 fuel cost; avg of 9.1 gph with a large % of flight time in the 2550-2600 rpm range; 1 1/2 qts of oil; avg cost of fuel $3.60/gal; lowest (Clarion, IA @ $3.25--highest @ Milliard, NB/Omaha, NB $4.45; Appears average speed to be 103 mph, however that was a result of some 78-80 mph time on Sat am, but other times on the trip there were nice tailwinds with as much as 160 mph so my numbers on avg speed are likely not very accurate. With the exception of the Sat morning departure from Duluth part way to Fairmount, the weather was virtually perfect. That 496 would have been nice to have that morning. Overall a really nice 22 hour trip & lots of good memories of friends/family. And yes, its cheaper to fly the keroscene queens than to fly our planes, but not nearly as much fun or convenient!!

[GAHorn]

... Overall a really nice 22 hour trip & lots of good memories of friends/family. And yes, its cheaper to fly the keroscene queens than to fly our planes, but not nearly as much fun or convenient!!

How many of those destinations would the "Kerosene Queens" have delivered you? And at what times? And with all your luggage? And with no removing your shoes and leaving behind your toiletries and let you carry your water-bottle thru security?

[W.J.Langholz]

Ol Pokey

The increase in mileage..........it's got to be in the tail "mod" on the 170C

Ya got love it Bruce

W.

[170C]

You are right George. All that TSA "stuff" really puts a cramp into the airline travel. Some of it is probably needed, but I have my doubts that a true terrorist is going to be caught with the security system anyway. I don't remember seeing any of the airlines going to the majority of the places we stopped as you said. That security stuff is one reason that I will drive 20 miles when I go to El Paso rather than fly the airline.

Bruce, if I get better than average speed it must be that "straight tail", but when the speed is 115 mph or less, again it must be that Cessna 170-C mod

[170C]

Correction George------I meant to say 620 miles to El Paso & return rather than 20 miles. Guess that is a good reason to proof read a post before submitting it

[GAHorn]

That's what the <edit> button if for.

Why wouldn't you fly OlPokey to KELP and borrow a courtesy car? (BTW folks, if any of you remain frustrated with fuel prices at big airports, consider that the courtesy cars at many of the big FBOs are paid for with fuel purchases. I hate paying $5.20/gal for avgas at Houston, but when I compare that with $3/gal (which doesn't make my heart skip too many beats) and the $65 car-rental I would have incurred in a parallel universe.... buy the 10-gallon minimum to avoid ramp-fees and the associated free use of their courtesy car only made my ground transport costs $22. ...a $43 savings.

(Proof that humans can rationalize.)