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I just finished a most excellent cross country in my Rotary RV-6 and wanted to share the stats and the adventure. I visited family in Boulder, CO, friends in Pensacola, and spent a week in Orlando including watching the shuttle launch and going to the rotary round up in Bell, Fl. I also delivered a prop to its buyer in Austin TX and traversed the country westbound in a single day.
Best leg (Strong tailwinds fading in the end): K88-82J, 601 NM and 2.9 hrs on the hobbs. 23.6 gallons of MOGAS burned that I bought at K88 for $2.74/gal. That works out to 207 Knots Ground speed at 8.1 gal/hr. Yee ha!
Of course, the winds play the deciding factor. I had a mix of winds over the course of the trip here are the overall stats:
4224 kn miles traveled
240 gallons burned
$3.35 average fuel price (I had to buy 100LL on 2 occasions which brought up the average a little)
$24 worth of 2-stroke oil burned. ($830 total paid for fuel and oil)
26.0 hrs on the hobbs
That works out to:
Average speed= 162 KTS
Average Fuel Burn= 9.2 gal/hr
Average cost/mile= $0.19
Those are GPS point to point numbers and include climb, taxi and heading variations. The other way to look at fuel burn/Cruise speed is to use a calibrated ASI and Fuel Flow insturment. I spent a couple hundred miles testing various settings after getting the fuel flow computer fully calibrated. Here are my data points taken in cruise, all were done > 100 LOP (more power available with richer mixtures or closure of the wastegate - not attempted this trip). Slight climbs or descents and changes in mixture probably account for the variations. (RV is hard to truly keep level especially when looking at other numbers and trying to write) (Redline is 7000 RPM)
150 KTAS @ 13.5k and 8.0 gal/hr
154 KTAS @ 15.5k and 8.3 gal/hr (5100 RPM)
160 KTAS @ 11.5k and 9.1 gal/hr
161 KTAS @ 15.5k and 8.7 gal/hr
162 KTAS @ 13.5k and 9.2 gal/hr
165 KTAS @ 13.5k and 10 gal/hr (5600 RPM)
172 KTAS @ 15.5k and 10.7 gal/hr (5600 RPM)
179 KTAS @ 15.5k and 12.0 gal/hr (5900 RPM)
181 KTAS @ 15.5k and 11.8 gal/hr
183 KTAS @ 13.5k and 12.3 gal/hr
185 KTAS @ 17.5k and 13.5 gal/hr (6000 RPM) - WOT
189 KTAS @ 17.5k and 13.4 gal/hr (6000 RPM) - WOT
193 KTAS @ 13.5k and 13.6 gal/hr (6100 RPM) - WOT
Clearly not the same fuel economy as most lycoming installations, but not out of the ballpark either. After considering the lower price of MOGAS the hourly cost of flying is
No issues encountered with the engine. Tracy noted that my gear leash seemed to be slightly larger than normal, and it increased during the trip home. So next weekend the drive is coming off for inspection and likely replacement of the snubbers.
--
David Leonard
Turbo Rotary RV-6 N4VY
http://N4VY.RotaryRoster.net
http://RotaryRoster.net
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