economy vs speed

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stapler101

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stapler101
I have a question. I think I figured it correctly but I an not sure. In a plane I just sold, I could fly 145 n miles in 1 hr 10 minutes burning 14 gph.
If I buy a plane that flys 110 mph @ 10 gph, which plane uses the least fuel?
I think the 10 gph plane will actually use more fuel.
 
Break it down to gal per mile. Which is (14 gph * (70/60))/145 mph = .113 gal/mi

And 10 gph/110 mph = 0.091 gal/mi

So at 10 gph at 110 mph you are more efficient, 24.2% more efficient.
 
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thanks! I figured it differently and apparently incorrectly.
I am trying to decide what plane to buy now. I just sold a 182 and I no longer need the load carrying capacity of the 182.
 
When I retired I went for economy,allows me to fly more hours on less dollars.
 
You can buy a Mooney and get both, here is the secret: just slow down...do a search on "carsons speed aircraft" for how to get the maximum efficiency.
 
The answer isn't static and can vary greatly depending on the amount of headwind/tailwind you have.

:)
 
But a Mooney will still deliver more speed and distance for less gas. Almost always, certain experimentals excepted. Speed AND economy, no more difficult to fly than the Skylane you just sold.

Mine goes 140 knots on 9 gph, with full fuel + 670 lbs. good for five (5) hours. And mine is a slow Mooney, only 180 hp.
 
thanks for all the replies!
Hank, which model Mooney do you have?
One other question about the Mooney. I am 6'2, 210 lbs. Is the Mooney comfortable?
 
HOLD UP

What do you want, more time per dollar OR more miles per dollar??
 
From M20J POH, @12K with full payload:
145 mph, burning 6.4gph which is 22.66 mpg, not bad, and if you lose a couple of passengers,
you'll be burning 24.46 mpg....
so if a M20J and a Corvette both leave KRDU for KPBI,
the Mooney will burn 26.1 gals, the vette: 26 gals.
The vette will take 10:47mins, the Mooney 4:40mins, Delta with 1 stop will take 4:12mins costing $232, the Mooney (assuming $5.50/gal) $143.55, but if you want to check luggage, add $25 to price of Delta's tix.

Now thats efficient, but for full disclosure: the cost of the fuel for the Mooney is an extra $2/gal, so it will cost $52 more than the vette
 
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stapler101 said:
thanks for all the replies!
Hank, which model Mooney do you have?
One other question about the Mooney. I am 6'2, 210 lbs. Is the Mooney comfortable?
Click to expand...
Mooney are very comfortable, the problem is getting out, like getting out of a Corvette, you sit down low, and have to climb out as oppose to a Cessna, where you step down. Actually, the taller you are the more you will like it, lots of leg room.
 
stapler101 said:
I have a question. I think I figured it correctly but I an not sure. In a plane I just sold, I could fly 145 n miles in 1 hr 10 minutes burning 14 gph.
If I buy a plane that flys 110 mph @ 10 gph, which plane uses the least fuel?
I think the 10 gph plane will actually use more fuel.
Click to expand...

Why not buy an RV, go 200 mph and burn 10 gph? Or throttle back to 175 and burn 8? :dunno:

Never mind. :lol:
 
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If slowing down to best efficiency saves a fuel stop, that is what you want. Landing, taxiing, taking off and climbing eats a lot of time that could have been spent at best efficiency speed.

Bob Gardner
 
Geico266 said:
So does the RV-10. ;)
Click to expand...
Yep, but that bigger engine/plane costs you: 17 mpg

There are things Mooneys aren't good at: soft fields, carrying capacity, ingress and egress...but when it comes to speed and efficiency, they rule! :D
 
stapler101 said:
thanks for all the replies!
Hank, which model Mooney do you have?
One other question about the Mooney. I am 6'2, 210 lbs. Is the Mooney comfortable?
Click to expand...

I have an M20-C with electric gear and flaps. My Mooney Ranger gets about the same mileage as my Ford Ranger . . . Huntington, WV to Auburn, AL is 600 miles by road, 432 nm by air, both a little over 30 gallons (depending on wind/traffic). The Mooney is 3 to 3-1/2 hours, the truck has been 9-11 hours. You pays your money and takes your choice.

F & J Mooneys have more back seat leg room, but the front seats are the same. You sit low, feet out in front, which reduces drag and fuel requirements. I know people in the 6' 5" range who love their Mooney. I'm 5-11, 190-200, and have no issues.
 
Hank S said:
But a Mooney will still deliver more speed and distance for less gas. Almost always, certain experimentals excepted. Speed AND economy, no more difficult to fly than the Skylane you just sold.

Mine goes 140 knots on 9 gph, with full fuel + 670 lbs. good for five (5) hours. And mine is a slow Mooney, only 180 hp.
Click to expand...


140 knots on 9 gph = 15.5

Most of the 172 class will go 100+ knots ~7 gph of car gas = 14.3 and you don't have to own a $10k+ prop, $1k prop governor, burn 100LL, retractable gear etc etc to get that mileage.

High performance with CS props are fun to fly, but the more money I spend in parts, the happier I am there's a lot fewer expensive ones installed.
 
I'm still collecting data (another way of saying I don't write all my gas receipts down) but I get about 160mph burning around 10 gph... Mostly 88+UL. About 16mph.not bad for a 66year old...

I always thought I would buy a Mooney if I did buy a retac. But I must admit that I'm a bo fan now. In the end, get what you like and can afford. These d@@ things ain't cheap!
 
teejayevans said:
From M20J POH, @12K with full payload:
145 mph, burning 6.4gph which is 22.66 mpg, not bad, and if you lose a couple of passengers,
you'll be burning 24.46 mpg....
so if a M20J and a Corvette both leave KRDU for KPBI,
the Mooney will burn 26.1 gals, the vette: 26 gals.
The vette will take 10:47mins, the Mooney 4:40mins, Delta with 1 stop will take 4:12mins costing $232, the Mooney (assuming $5.50/gal) $143.55, but if you want to check luggage, add $25 to price of Delta's tix.

Now thats efficient, but for full disclosure: the cost of the fuel for the Mooney is an extra $2/gal, so it will cost $52 more than the vette
Click to expand...

What vette? My C6 six speed MT get 30mpg.

You want miles get a w10 Wittman Tailwind
150kts at 7gph, pick one up for about 20k.
 
efficiency wise I believe the longez and varieze always win but at a cost for space.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
MAKG1 said:
Read CAREFULLY.

One is in knots, the other in MPH.
Click to expand...

Not only that, but the first one is in 1 hour and 10 minutes. So that would convert to 125 kts... which seems fairly poor at 14 gph...
 
stapler101 said:
thanks for all the replies!
Hank, which model Mooney do you have?
One other question about the Mooney. I am 6'2, 210 lbs. Is the Mooney comfortable?
Click to expand...

I'm 6'2" 195 and fit just fine in a stock F. In and out is different but after you figure it out not bad. I had less agile folks sit on the wing and slid into the seat.
 
Lancair 360. ~$70-80k acquisition, annuals run me around $800 on average, maybe $1000 in variable maintenance items throughout the year, on average (some years less, some years more, but hasn't exceed $2500 in one year yet.)

195ktas on 9-10gph depending on a few things.

Gets around 23mpg and it's eating up those miles faster than most. Or, for sightseeing you can tootle along at about 5 to 5.5gph doing 120-130kts.

6'2 might be an issue depending on how you're built. My transition instructor was 6'3 and flew my particular aircraft for 2 years.
 
teejayevans said:
Yep, but that bigger engine/plane costs you: 17 mpg

There are things Mooneys aren't good at: soft fields, carrying capacity, ingress and egress...but when it comes to speed and efficiency, they rule! :D
Click to expand...
or you can get an S/V35, gain comfort and improved rough field capability, and match the mooney's efficiency near as makes no difference (assume you care to slow it down to mooney speeds)
 
Well mile per buck the W-10 will eat a lance for lunch

If you add a landing in the local lake I'll take my new 185F ;)
 
Ranking planes I familiar with the Sonex Aerovee gets great economy. Next up would be the Vari-Eze(I once played around going slow and got 51 SMPG), then the other faster exp planes with bigger engines.

Fixed gear two seat I would say the Luscombe 8A or E, then the other aged rag wing slow planes in order. Four seat cert and fixed gear I would say the 1975 AA5 tops the list, followed by the AA5-A, and then the Tiger. The Piper PA-28 with fairings and good rigging is surprisingly economical, and can be made somewhat more-so with a bunch of mods.

Cert RG two seat is only the Globe Swift, which is pretty good. Don't know of others. Four seat, RG starts with the Mooney C, E or G, then the F and 201. Early Bonanza will be next, with later years getting progressively poorer fuel mileage all the way to the A36. The older the lighter and less gewgaws. Piper Arrow, then a bunch of other who cares planes.

Cert RG twin is easy, Piper twin Comanche takes the cake, eats it, then reaches over and eats the next twin's cake too.
 
You can get exceptional economy out of airplanes if you're just willing to slow down. Most are not willing to do so, which I get. This guy gets almost 100mpg in his VariEze and he's done 1700nm non stop (CA to FL) on less than 30gals of gas.

http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2008/December/30/One-hundred-miles-per-gallon

I bought my Aerostar chiefly because it has some of the best fuel economy of any twin. It's 21gal/hr at FL250 and 184kts. Or around 25gal/hr for 200kts.
 
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stratobee said:
This guy gets almost 100mpg in his VariEze and he's done 1700nm non stop (CA to FL) on less than 30gals of gas/QUOTE]


Well if your going west to east and ride the prevailing winds all the time, sure, that will help a lot!
Click to expand...
 
JHW said:
or you can get an S/V35, gain comfort and improved rough field capability, and match the mooney's efficiency near as makes no difference (assume you care to slow it down to mooney speeds)
Click to expand...


Hmmmm....No.
This has been debated over on bonanza.org, At 150k, the Bo gets 10.2, the M20J gets about 8.5, the J is a 4 cyl, less expensive to maintain in addition to using less fuel, but yea, the Bo is 8 knots faster
Yes, pre J models are slower and less fuel efficient, LoPresti made changes in the J version to up the performance, that's why I was specific, after the J they went to 6 cyl, for more speed...the Acclaim S does 242 knots
 
Hank S said:
I have an M20-C with electric gear and flaps. My Mooney Ranger gets about the same mileage as my Ford Ranger . . .
Click to expand...

With a little tailwind, it is quite easy to get 20 smpg in the Mooney, far besting the 15smpg of my F-150 Supercrew.
 
I've recently disovered what many of you already know, what real economy is if hours and not miles is your thing.
A whole afternoon in a grob costs less than taxiing the C90 across the field.
 

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JHW said:
I've recently disovered what many of you already know, what real economy is if hours and not miles is your thing.
A whole afternoon in a grob costs less than taxiing the C90 across the field.
Click to expand...

Yep, on the bucket list. Even have a really nice club a quick flight away.

Some of those guys get pretty competitive and have some really interesting stories of flying a state or so away with zero engine noise! I'm impressed ..
 
I fly a 1964 M20C. Only 180hp but all available speed mods on the outside. At 5'10" and 230 I'm pretty wide, but the left seat is still comfortable. There is generally someone in the right seat, and the dog doesn't mind the back seat. I flight plan for 145kts TAS and at 10K ft. that's only 7gph.
On the trip back from OSH this summer, we were full fuel and gross weight. I flew as high as I could as fast as I could. Fuel burn was 7.8gph for the whole trip.
 
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