Cessna 182S Unusual Fuel Burn

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CStohl

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C Money
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Hi PoA,

First time poster, please let me know if this topic would be better suited in another sub-forum.

I joined a flying club at my home airport close to a year ago that flies, among other aircraft, 2 Cessna 182S’s. To my knowledge the airplanes have not received any performance modifications, however the fuel burn has me questioning everything I know about the aircraft. One has consistently burned 17-18 gallons per hour over the course of months, while the other, seemingly identical aircraft has burned 11-13, which I would consider to be much more in line with expectations.

However, as of last month, both have equalized at 16 gallons per hour. These numbers are based on fuel receipts so I don’t know if it is a result of unequal fuel purchases from month to month, or something else which I have failed to consider. However 16gph still seems abnormally high in an airplane which I can routinely lean to 12/13 gallons in cruise.

Has anyone else encountered similar situations, and if so what ended up being the solution for returning fuel burn to a more reasonable state? Engine is Lycoming IO-540-AB1A5

Thank you all,
C Money
 
What is the average duration of flight for each aircraft? Lot’s of takeoffs will increase block to block fuel use. Long flights in cruise will bring that down.
 
Depends on the flight, majority of usage is 1-2 hour xcs. Worth noting that fuel burn is measured based off tach time.
 
Fuel receipts aren't a great way to analyze GPH...maybe convince the club to let you do proving runs and write up the flight costs as a maintenance expense?
 
CStohl said:
Hi PoA,

First time poster, please let me know if this topic would be better suited in another sub-forum.

I joined a flying club at my home airport close to a year ago that flies, among other aircraft, 2 Cessna 182S’s. To my knowledge the airplanes have not received any performance modifications, however the fuel burn has me questioning everything I know about the aircraft. One has consistently burned 17-18 gallons per hour over the course of months, while the other, seemingly identical aircraft has burned 11-13, which I would consider to be much more in line with expectations.

However, as of last month, both have equalized at 16 gallons per hour. These numbers are based on fuel receipts so I don’t know if it is a result of unequal fuel purchases from month to month, or something else which I have failed to consider. However 16gph still seems abnormally high in an airplane which I can routinely lean to 12/13 gallons in cruise.

Has anyone else encountered similar situations, and if so what ended up being the solution for returning fuel burn to a more reasonable state? Engine is Lycoming IO-540-AB1A5

Thank you all,
C Money
Click to expand...

Clubs always seem to have fuel use higher than what I personally experience in the same plane because many simply see themselves as renters not owners. Some members tend to ignore AFM power setting and leaning procedures and fly WOT/Full rich.
 
138c385baa0b665523a5550ce617b421.jpg

Yup. This. Right. Here. I’ve lost track of the number of “pilots” I’ve seen that treat this simply as the engine on/off lever.
Sigh…


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
CStohl said:
Hi PoA,

First time poster, please let me know if this topic would be better suited in another sub-forum.

I joined a flying club at my home airport close to a year ago that flies, among other aircraft, 2 Cessna 182S’s. To my knowledge the airplanes have not received any performance modifications, however the fuel burn has me questioning everything I know about the aircraft. One has consistently burned 17-18 gallons per hour over the course of months, while the other, seemingly identical aircraft has burned 11-13, which I would consider to be much more in line with expectations.

However, as of last month, both have equalized at 16 gallons per hour. These numbers are based on fuel receipts so I don’t know if it is a result of unequal fuel purchases from month to month, or something else which I have failed to consider. However 16gph still seems abnormally high in an airplane which I can routinely lean to 12/13 gallons in cruise.

Has anyone else encountered similar situations, and if so what ended up being the solution for returning fuel burn to a more reasonable state? Engine is Lycoming IO-540-AB1A5

Thank you all,
C Money
Click to expand...
Sounds like they are rented wet. Renters often fly at FRP, full rental power. There may be some training going on. Training maneuvers can guzzle gas.
 
And in a club setting, these people are driving up my rental rate (unless the club rents dry).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
How are you leaning?I know one 182 that needed a rich mixture and open cowl flaps to keep things cool because the cylinders were glazed. Or something like that.
 
Thank you everyone for input on the subject. After compiling March fuel burn the average between both airplanes increased to 19 gallons per hour. Short of somebody siphoning fuel or a leak(which I’ve seen no evidence of) 19 seems impossible.

Between me and another individual we flew approximately half of the hours for the month, all showing about 13 gallons per hour, which means that by my calculations everyone else has to be running at 25ish gallons per hour. I’m sure there’s some people who aren’t leaning, but the idea that all but 2 individuals are failing to consider the red knob seems highly improbable. I also think this is higher than the motor is physically capable of consuming, although with the tach time it might be right at the limit.

At this point plane-based considerations include the fuel flow on our JPI engine monitors being wildly incorrect, although this seems unlikely given that it is happening on both airplanes and motors are being leaned based on EGTs rather than FF. I personally haven’t pulled data from the engine monitors, but it should be happening soon to test the leaning theory.

Fuel receipts were also checked to ensure that an unauthorized copy of the fuel card isn’t floating around. Locking fuel caps are getting installed, although even fuel theft seems unlikely given that a low wing piper saratoga is parked directly next to the skylanes. That seems like a much easier target, but its fuel burn has remained stationary between 14 and 15 for over a year.

This whole saga has me perplexed, and has my wallet getting significantly lighter than it should as I pay for 5 gallons an hour more than I actually use. I’m not sure how many updates I’ll be posting short term, but I appreciate the conversation that has occurred. Leaning is certainly an issue, but I can’t imagine it is solely responsible for such a major discrepancy.

C Money
 
Are some pilots filling the tanks and flying without logging (and paying for) the flight? Or disconnecting the tach? Or turning the master off?
 
Another thing to consider is if the tach time is accurate. They can stop working or work intermittently. If the airplane has a Hobbs meter, I'd have pilots log both on the aircraft timesheet.
 
Clip4 said:
Clubs always seem to have fuel use higher than what I personally experience in the same plane because many simply see themselves as renters not owners.
Click to expand...
Depends on the culture of the club.

CStohl said:
Thank you everyone for input on the subject. After compiling March fuel burn the average between both airplanes increased to 19 gallons per hour. Short of somebody siphoning fuel or a leak(which I’ve seen no evidence of) 19 seems impossible.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's way out of the realm of normal. I think you may well have someone stealing your fuel, or maybe the FBO is billing you for more than they're actually putting in the plane.

CStohl said:
Between me and another individual we flew approximately half of the hours for the month, all showing about 13 gallons per hour, which means that by my calculations everyone else has to be running at 25ish gallons per hour. I’m sure there’s some people who aren’t leaning, but the idea that all but 2 individuals are failing to consider the red knob seems highly improbable. I also think this is higher than the motor is physically capable of consuming, although with the tach time it might be right at the limit.
Click to expand...
Have you ever looked at fuel flow on the takeoff roll, or had someone else look for you? The planes I've flown that had fuel flow that was reasonably visible during the takeoff roll, at <1000 MSL and full rich the fuel flow was pretty close to double the cruise fuel flow. My Mooney does about 25gph on takeoff and 12.2 in cruise, our club DA40 (180hp IO-360) did 18 on takeoff and 9±1.5 in cruise depending how fast you wanted to go, etc.

13 gallons per tach hour is what our club averaged in our 182N across many years of operation. 19 is highly suspect.

I'd be looking into security cameras if I were you... Preferably ones that can read the numbers on the fuel truck. Someone is ripping you off.

CStohl said:
At this point plane-based considerations include the fuel flow on our JPI engine monitors being wildly incorrect, although this seems unlikely given that it is happening on both airplanes and motors are being leaned based on EGTs rather than FF. I personally haven’t pulled data from the engine monitors, but it should be happening soon to test the leaning theory.
Click to expand...
What kind of engine monitors do you have? If they log fuel flow and capacity, you should have a good idea of whether it's happening in flight or otherwise.

CStohl said:
Fuel receipts were also checked to ensure that an unauthorized copy of the fuel card isn’t floating around. Locking fuel caps are getting installed, although even fuel theft seems unlikely given that a low wing piper saratoga is parked directly next to the skylanes. That seems like a much easier target, but its fuel burn has remained stationary between 14 and 15 for over a year.
Click to expand...
You don't have to siphon fuel out of the caps - You can also take it from the sumps. In fact, I've seen hoses that are designed to be used with the "two spud" Piper-style sump drains to drain fuel into a gas can or whatever for defueling. When you first mentioned the Saratoga, I was thinking that'd be an easy way to fuel a Saratoga - Run a hose to the adjoining Cessnas! But it sounds like that one's yours too and not experiencing any weird fuel usage numbers?
 
Nothing perplexing about this yet. Download the data. How it's gotten this far without downloading the data is crazy to me. You claim crazy fuel burn. But the data you used to calculate your "burn" is more fuel usage. Did a pilot put a cap in his pocket one time? Is someone stealing? Being overcharged? Shutting master off?

The answers are on the jpi. And yes, takeoffs at sea level I'll see a 28ish gph fuel burn. Maybe guys are firewalling throttle and mixture and just flying around town.

Spending time and money on this for months without downloading data is crazy. It's the first thing I'd be doing.
 
Check plugs, borescope the cylinders, and look at end of exhaust pipe and the fuselage trailing it. They all should show pig rich. Otherwise, that’s not a real fuel burn number and you need to look at the hour meter or fuel theft or some other variable. Good luck.
 
Can also check adsb flight tracking sites to see where they're flying and the altitude.
 
On the EDM830, power it up, reply to the Refuel? question or wait til it times out, then stick in USB thumb drive. You can download all flights or just new ones. EZTrends is a bit flaky on startup but it still works on Win 11.
 
Racerx said:
Nothing perplexing about this yet. Download the data. How it's gotten this far without downloading the data is crazy to me. You claim crazy fuel burn. But the data you used to calculate your "burn" is more fuel usage. Did a pilot put a cap in his pocket one time? Is someone stealing? Being overcharged? Shutting master off?
Click to expand...
I agree that it’s crazy. I was hoping the people responsible for maintenance/financials would have found a solution by now but obviously that has not happened. I’ve got my own responsibilities in the club, but its more focused on acquiring a new plane and membership. This whole post saga has been my own personal research project to try and find solutions in response to a lack of action.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
13 gallons per tach hour is what our club averaged in our 182N across many years of operation. 19 is highly suspect.

I'd be looking into security cameras if I were you... Preferably ones that can read the numbers on the fuel truck. Someone is ripping you off.
Click to expand...
13/hour is what ours were at, and was what we budgeted the hourly for so I know it’s possible.

Security cameras should be going up as soon as an unobtrusive way to mount them is devised(rented hangar). Fuel is all self service but agree a rip-off is happening somewhere
 
Just about all the possibilities have been mentioned, the list is lengthy, and any of the possibilities can be the culprit. Please do chime back in when you find out what it is.

What is most perplexing to me is why the JPI data wasn’t already being downloaded and why no one else noticed the fuel burn mystery. That speaks to the lack of monitoring (and controls) in the club. To keep a club financially healthy these are a few things that should be done.

You can reduce premature wear and promote good piloting habits when you have accurate engine data to review and respond to.
 
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