: * Fly at lower power setting for local flights.
: * Lean like crazy on those low powered flights. It won't hurt the
: engine.
: * Fill up autogas whenever I can.

That's one of the biggest ways to save significantly on fuel. In particular
with a high-performance plane. Drag power (and thus fuel burn) goes with the *cube*
of the speed, and a plane with a big engine generally lets you climb that steep cubic
curve a pretty good ways. If you're willing to slow down a few knots (generally 5-10
is pretty significant), you can generally get a pretty big fuel savings.

My PA28-180 is neither high-performance nor has a big engine, but the airframe
is pretty much in the "sweet-spot" with a 150-160hp engine at 75%. More than that
means lots more fuel burn for very little speed gain. In my case:

75%: 10gph - 115-120KIAS (can't lean too much)
65%: 8.5gph - 110-115KIAS (can lean to whatever as long as CHT is OK)
55%: 7.5gph - 105-110KIAS (can lean 'till it wheezes out of the sky)

That's a increase from 12nmpg - 13.5nmpg - 14.5 nmpg... roughly 8% speed
penalty for 20% fuel savings. With a slippery plane with a big engine, even moreso.

Oh yeah... headwinds suck.

-Cory

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