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Fuel Efficiency ? was Re: Small Cross Country

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Eugene Zimmerman

Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 392

Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 5:15 pm Post subject: Fuel Efficiency ? was Re: Small Cross Country

Mike,



Cool Pict !    

Your  15.27 mpg works out to a fuel burn of  -

4.25 gal. per hr. (at) 65 mph

3.9   gal. per hr. (at) 60 mph

3.6  gal. per hr. (at) 55 mph



Does this sound about  right with your experience?



I'm interested in finding out what others are experiencing in fuel  

efficiency.



On Jul 23, 2007, at 6:20 PM, planecrazzzy wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		   

 <planecrazzzy(at)yahoo.com>



 I goofed in my figures....



  later , when I thought about it....I should have added the part that



 was used in the tanks after the trip (5.3 gals )



  So that changes the MPG to 15.27



 376 miles  ,  24.61 gals  = 15.27 mpg

 .

 .

 .

 Gotta Fly...

 Mike in MN

 .

 .

 .



 --------

 .

 .

 .

 .

 .

 Do Not Archive





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 http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=125413#125413





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planecrazzzy
Guest

Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 1:05 pm Post subject: Re: Fuel Efficiency ? was Re: Small Cross Country

Yep , your numbers look REAL close....



and I might add that I'm pretty "Happy" with them.....

.

.

Gotta Fly...

Mike & "Jaz" in MN

.

.

.

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jbhart(at)onlyinternet.ne
Guest

Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 4:19 pm Post subject: Fuel Efficiency ? was Re: Small Cross Country

At 09:14 PM 7/23/07 -0400, you wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		  


	


 	  Quote: 	
		  I'm interested in finding out what others are experiencing in fuel  

efficiency.


	


Eugene,



I have a FireFly with a Simonini Victor 1+ mounted.  I had never taken any 

data above 5,600 rpm because it is uncomfortable to cruise at any rpm higher 

than that.  I have not been able to achieve the Simonini published fuel flow 

rates at 5,600 or lower.  You can see my efforts to lean the engine out on 

the bottom of:



http://www.thirdshift.com/jack/firefly/firefly121.html



Last Saturday morning was my EAA Chapter 373 meeting, and I was a little 

late getting off.  For the first time, I let the engine cruise at 6,000 rpm. 

 I climbed to 2,870 feet asl to reach 55 degree F air to be sure that 

coolant temperatures would stay within specs.  Ground to ground flight time 

was 54 minutes and total fuel burn was 1.90 gallons for an overall fuel burn 

of 2.11 gph.  Distance between airports is 23 miles and assuming an 

additional mile for pattern distance, the total distance traveled was 48 

miles.  This gives 25.3 mpg.  2.11 gph at 6,000 rpm agrees with Simonini's 

published data for the Victor 1+.



I have two EGT probes mounted.   The second is mounted down stream from the 

first by about six inches.  When running the engine at 5,500 rpm the down 

stream EGT probe will normally run 100 degrees higher than the engine 

mounted probe.  This is pretty constant down to about 4,500 rpm.  But when I 

cruised at 6,000 rpm the down stream probe read 400 degrees higher.  Now 

that I have had time to think about it, I believe what happened is the 

engine was running up on the pipe.  I believe the engine is falling off the 

pipe tuning if it is run at 5,500 rpm.  I will be making some more runs at 

5,900, 5,800 etc. rpm to see what happens.  If this is the case, I can 

lengthen the pipe or inject water to try an get better fuel economy at 5,500 

rpm.



Several years ago, I took some ground data on the Rotax 447 while injecting 

water, and I found that it did reduce fuel flow.  It would be interesting to 

try this while flying to see what happens.  If you would like to see this 

data, it can be seen at:



http://www.thirdshift.com/jack/firefly/firefly58c.html



Always more to do.



Jack B. Hart FF004

Winchester, IN

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lucien

Joined: 03 Jun 2007
Posts: 721
Location: santa fe, NM

Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 6:13 pm Post subject: Re: Fuel Efficiency ? was Re: Small Cross Country

 	  Eugene Zimmerman wrote: 	
		  Mike,



Cool Pict !    

Your  15.27 mpg works out to a fuel burn of  -

4.25 gal. per hr. (at) 65 mph

3.9   gal. per hr. (at) 60 mph

3.6  gal. per hr. (at) 55 mph



Does this sound about  right with your experience?



I'm interested in finding out what others are experiencing in fuel  

efficiency.

	




My stats:

FS II 98' model

503 DCDI 2v, 3.47:1 C box w/clutch

Warp drive 68" 3 blade



empty weight 440lbs.



Fuel burn at sea level at about 60mph was around 3gph. At my new altitude of 7000', it's slightly less than that just eyeballing it. Probably around 2.8gph...



LS

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_________________
LS
Titan II SS

Eugene Zimmerman

Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 392

Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 6:59 pm Post subject: Fuel Efficiency ? was Re: Small Cross Country

Jack,

Thanks for sharing your  fuel efficiency data.

Your fuel burn is very close to what I have been able achieve.  Your  

ground speed comes out to approximately 53.3 mph.

Each aircraft has a specific airspeed at which it flies most  

efficient. To maximize fuel efficiency the engine's maximum fuel  

efficiency must coincide with the aircraft's most efficient air speed.

The most efficient airspeed for my modified Firestar II is slightly  

less than 50 mph and varies slightly with air temperature and fuel load.

  I burn 2 gal. per hr. at 50 mph cruise (at) 4000 rpm. My engine is a  

Rotax 618 which has the variable exhaust valves and is turning a 72"   

IVO in-flight adjustable prop at maximum pitch.

In this configuration my plane and engine are quietly loafing  along,

but (at) 6600 rpm full throttle the 618 is a thirsty beast and according  

to my fuel flow gauge, can drink over 8  gal. per hr.

Gene

On Jul 24, 2007, at 8:46 PM, Jack B. Hart wrote:

 	  Quote: 	

 <jbhart(at)onlyinternet.net>

 At 09:14 PM 7/23/07 -0400, you wrote:

> 

> <etzim62(at)earthlink.net>

> I'm interested in finding out what others are experiencing in fuel

> efficiency.

 Eugene,

 I have a FireFly with a Simonini Victor 1+ mounted.  I had never  

 taken any

 data above 5,600 rpm because it is uncomfortable to cruise at any  

 rpm higher

 than that.  I have not been able to achieve the Simonini published  

 fuel flow

 rates at 5,600 or lower.  You can see my efforts to lean the engine  

 out on

 the bottom of:

 http://www.thirdshift.com/jack/firefly/firefly121.html

 Last Saturday morning was my EAA Chapter 373 meeting, and I was a  

 little

 late getting off.  For the first time, I let the engine cruise at  

 6,000 rpm.

  I climbed to 2,870 feet asl to reach 55 degree F air to be sure that

 coolant temperatures would stay within specs.  Ground to ground  

 flight time

 was 54 minutes and total fuel burn was 1.90 gallons for an overall  

 fuel burn

 of 2.11 gph.  Distance between airports is 23 miles and assuming an

 additional mile for pattern distance, the total distance traveled  

 was 48

 miles.  This gives 25.3 mpg.  2.11 gph at 6,000 rpm agrees with  

 Simonini's

 published data for the Victor 1+.

 I have two EGT probes mounted.   The second is mounted down stream  

 from the

 first by about six inches.  When running the engine at 5,500 rpm  

 the down

 stream EGT probe will normally run 100 degrees higher than the engine

 mounted probe.  This is pretty constant down to about 4,500 rpm.   

 But when I

 cruised at 6,000 rpm the down stream probe read 400 degrees  

 higher.  Now

 that I have had time to think about it, I believe what happened is the

 engine was running up on the pipe.  I believe the engine is falling  

 off the

 pipe tuning if it is run at 5,500 rpm.  I will be making some more  

 runs at

 5,900, 5,800 etc. rpm to see what happens.  If this is the case, I can

 lengthen the pipe or inject water to try an get better fuel economy  

 at 5,500

 rpm.

 Several years ago, I took some ground data on the Rotax 447 while  

 injecting

 water, and I found that it did reduce fuel flow.  It would be  

 interesting to

 try this while flying to see what happens.  If you would like to  

 see this

 data, it can be seen at:

 http://www.thirdshift.com/jack/firefly/firefly58c.html

 Always more to do.

 Jack B. Hart FF004

 Winchester, IN

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