Ted
The pilot formerly known as Twin Engine Ted
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2007
- Messages
- 29,927
- Display Name
Display name:
iFlyNothing
Here's a question for y'all: does it bug you when people complain about gas prices and you see them driving something like a Prius? I have some friends who drive a Mini Cooper turbo (one of the new ones). They put about 10-20,000 miles per year on it, and it gets roughly 40 mpg highway, albeit on premium. Yet, despite the fact that driving anyplace uses roughly 1/3 the fuel that my Excursion does (nevermind aircraft fuel economy), not a day goes by that they aren't complaining about how expensive gas costs and how much it costs them to go someplace. While it doesn't bother me as it is all in good fun, I gave them a few calculations.
Mini: 40 mpg @ 70 mph on premium unleaded
Ford Excursion: 13.5 mpg @ 70 mph on regular unleaded
Cessna 172: 14.3 mpg @ 126 mph (110 kts, assuming 8.8 gph cruise) on AvGas
Piper Aztec: 7.1 mpg @ 184 mph (160 kts, 26 gph cruise) on AvGas
Piper Navajo: 5 mpg @ 190 mph (165 kts, 38 gph cruise) on AvGas
Of course, none of those figure the extra fuel used during warm-up, taxi, run-up, and take-off. They also aren't completely valid comparisons, seeing as when you fly you can go in a significantly straighter line than when you drive, especially if you live in Pennsylvania. But the numbers still stand to give you an idea.
I personally don't make a big deal about gas prices. Obviously I wish they were lower (doubly so for AvGas... I would be happy just running premium unleaded in a plane instead of 100LL), but I accept it as a cost of what I want to do. Just thought I'd share those numbers for anyone else interested.
Mini: 40 mpg @ 70 mph on premium unleaded
Ford Excursion: 13.5 mpg @ 70 mph on regular unleaded
Cessna 172: 14.3 mpg @ 126 mph (110 kts, assuming 8.8 gph cruise) on AvGas
Piper Aztec: 7.1 mpg @ 184 mph (160 kts, 26 gph cruise) on AvGas
Piper Navajo: 5 mpg @ 190 mph (165 kts, 38 gph cruise) on AvGas
Of course, none of those figure the extra fuel used during warm-up, taxi, run-up, and take-off. They also aren't completely valid comparisons, seeing as when you fly you can go in a significantly straighter line than when you drive, especially if you live in Pennsylvania. But the numbers still stand to give you an idea.
I personally don't make a big deal about gas prices. Obviously I wish they were lower (doubly so for AvGas... I would be happy just running premium unleaded in a plane instead of 100LL), but I accept it as a cost of what I want to do. Just thought I'd share those numbers for anyone else interested.