I actually did two post-flight write-ups on a similar adventure (In a '72 Arrow II and coincidentally it was to KSDL as well!). It includes the stats you're looking for here and a second trip to the same destination here.
Wow. That’s exactly the sort of reply I hoped for. Thanks!
Same. I should clarify. For fuel management, I plan for 10.
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I almost always fly at 65% power on XC flights.
bruh
Anddddd that explained how you beat me to Nashville
I find that the 200hp variants burn a little more than the 180hp variants.
Not much more than a .5gal/hr difference.
Rental power. That’s me. But this trip, it’s pretty close to doable without a fuel stop for me. 557 nm straight line HWD-KSDL, @ 130 kts, just over4 hrs w/ no wind. 48 gals usable. I’ll stop for fuel, because it’s close and I haven’t worked out my numbers for this plane-but if I throttled back a hair, burned under 10g/hr…just thinking aloud.
Is there an engine monitor? How do you calculate 10.8gph? Just wondering.
To be fair, you have 2 tanks, I’ve definitely come close to emptying one, prob 2-3 gal left, but still plenty of fuel in the other tank. Worst case if I emptied the fuel tank, I’d switch back to the other tank, fuel pump on, I should get another 15 minutes. Never got to that point and I’ve been up for almost 6 hours once before.
Yup, two of them. One for the engine itself, and the other is a fuel computer which ties to the Garmin 430, etc. That gives us fuel flow and other good info.
I’ve routinely done 550nm trips without issues both westbound and eastbound (headwinds and tailwinds). These are very routine and no issues fuel wise. You should have about 5-10gal fuel remaining (5-6 gal if flying westbound and 10-12gal if flying eastbound) or more depending on your mixture setting and the winds. Which can be 45min to 1.5 hours flying time depending on your settings.
IMO, when traveling long cross countries in my 48 useable gallon Archer2, it is better to plan to fully exhaust fuel after first switching tanks initially after 1 hr (or 10 gal with fuel flow sensor) for balance, and then waiting for the other tank to go 2hrs ( or 20 gallons). At this point, depending upon how far/long you are from destination, I will exhaust that tank fully if far away so as to maximize that initial tank to avoid issues with unporting in turbulence or uncoordinated flight. On the other hand if relatively close, I switch to the initial tank which is the fullest tank, as this makes the most sense to me.
set the fuel flow at 10GPH when above 3000', and open the throttle to full and pull it back just a hair. If that puts you above 24/24 pull throttle and prop back to 24/24. Plan on 130 knots groundspeed.
Why set 24/24? Why not keep the throttle wide open and pull back RPM a little more to achieve desired power? Arrow is fuel injected so you don't have mixture distribution to worry about.
I flew around at 2400/22" the other day. It was mega bumpy and I was just time building. It wasn't bad, probably was truing at 125KTAS ish. It was really windy that evening, so my ground speed was 98-160 lol!
I know a guy that flies a rental Arrow per the 2100 RPM manifold settings to save on tach time/rental$$$. He says the limitation on the C1C motors is only for below 15". Not sure if the 180hp engines are the same.
I wonder if there is a percentage on the savings. Hmm….
Do you have any opinions on the differences between 2300 and 2400 RPMs?
I didn’t use 2400rpm enough to develop any opinions about it. My overall opinion is that airplanes can go a little faster on a lot more fuel, and if I’m on a short trip the extra speed doesn’t help much while on a longer trip the shortened range usually hurts more than the extra time going a little slower.
As a renter who is charged Tach time, the tach runs slower below 2300rpm on many Pipers. So you're getting flight time > tach time, therefore saving money.
I was playing around with 2300 and 2400 RPMs today. I think 2400 is slightly faster? Both at WOT.
