Newps wrote:


: EridanMan wrote:
: Off the cuff 2nd plane criteria:
:
: - Cheap to operate (0-320 or smaller), especially if my 'main' bird
: had an 0-540 up front. Big engines are great for covering distance in
: a hurry, but I've had many pilots look at my little 140 and lament "I
: miss owning those little birds... I used to fly so much more than I do
: now, but its just so much more expensive..."



: But not necessarily because of the engine. My Bo runs at 45% power at 8
: gph and gets 150 mph indicated with the 520. Around the local area,
: which is probably 75% of my flying I'm burning about 35% less gas than
: the 182 I used to have(8 vs 12.5 gph).

Well-said. Just because something has the horsepower doesn't mean you need to use it. NOR does
it inherently mean that you're going to lose much speed. The drag of the airframe determines how fast
you go. The amount of horsepower you're using determines how much fuel you burn. As I've said in
previous posts about this, compare the numbers for different engines on the same airframe (e.g. PA28 or
PA24). In a PA-28 for instance, you can go from 10 gph to 7.5 gph and only lose 5-10 mph. With
something like a 182 I'm sure it's even more.

-Cory




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* Cory Papenfuss, Ph.D., PPSEL-IA *
* Electrical Engineering *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
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