High Flight

I feel like I have to tell somebody and nobody can understand the joy found in a flight like this except another pilot...With about 60 hours flying time since purchasing my RV7A I have made a lot of nice flights, but none above 10K so I have been anxious to get up higher. OK, maybe not all that high to some of you that routinely get up into the teens (and higher) but for me 15,500 is doing pretty good! This was my first opportunity to try out my oxygen bottle and canula. Saturday, I made a flight from 2TS6, just South of DFW, out to KUZA just South of Charlotte NC. I had planned to climb up to 17500 but the winds were more aligned with my course at 15,500.

Climbing out to cruise I donned my canula and set the flow between 15 and 18K. At 15,500 I was cruising at 193kts ground speed and sipping 6.8 gallons per hour! I quickly realized the two stops I had planned enroute would come up way too quickly, so modified the flight to land a little over half way and then at my destination. 806NM with total flight time of 4.6 hours, yielding an average ground speed of 175kts including climb out! At my first stop I had flown 489nm and filled up with 21.09 gallons. The fuel consumed according to the AS2500 for this leg was 21.1, ya gotta love the accuracy of these instruments! I could have easily flown the entire route without a stop and plenty of reserve if it weren't for my own need to have a comfort stop. Highest ground speed in level flight was 204kts - nice! This sure beats flying my old Cherokee Six and hoping to cruise at 135kts on a good day!

Keep on building, these are great machines!

Stewart

I know your feeling

Stewart, like you we were flying Saturday in some of the same air. My trip was from 20GA, just west of Atlanta, to KSOP, Pinehurst, NC. Our flight in our 9A was at 9500 feet. BTW, oxygen toys are on order so we can go higher. We were seeing anywhere between 210 to 221 MPH ground speed. We did the 328 sm trip in 1 hr 41 min total time. These are such wonderful aircraft.

Here is our APRS track for both Saturday and Sunday.

http://aprs.fi/?call=N42AH&mt=m&z=11&timerange=345600

Needless to say coming home on Sunday was not as quick of a trip at 4500 feet. BTW thank you Weathermeister...great tool

Looking for favorable winds

I am still in the Charlotte area so hoping for more favorable winds on my return to the Dallas area by next weekend.

Hey Stewart If you get a bug to fly while you're in NC, I'm down at St Lucie County Airport in Ft. Pierce Fl (KFPR). I'll buy lunch

Cheap Gas

7pilot said:

I am still in the Charlotte area so hoping for more favorable winds on my return to the Dallas area by next weekend.

Click to expand...

Stewart,

On my return trip I stopped at 35A Union County just SW of Charlotte for fuel. They have self service 100LL for $3.50. Cheapest I found in the area and made for a quick turn around.

Lots Of Luck Stewart

Welcome to the world of Winds Aloft. Heading East is usually great but going West can be a B***h. There's a cold front moving through and that may settle them done a bit. By the way what was your groundspeed? I went PHL nonstop to LAS Monday night and it took 6.0 hours in a 737 at FL 390.

Still in SC

You know you are always going to pay the piper for any small favor you receive. Take a look at what is between me and TX now...

doesn't look like I will be heading back on schedule. I would prefer to do this with no IFR and definitely not going to fly into storms. Guess I may have to call in "sick." It doesn't appear this will be getting out of the way anytime soon. Checking the winds aloft, looks like I will also see 30 knot headwinds all the way home - might make me almost as slow as average cruise in my Cherokee Six. Not complaining, I remember several flights that I would have been real happy with 100 kts in the six!

Suggestion I learned from an old pilot

Stewart, maybe you should consider flying part of the way, staying overnight and let the weather pass you, and then continue toward home. An old (not so bold) pilot suggested this to me for my planned trip to Oshkosh and it worked for me.
There's also another thread on these forums for a free trial subscription to Weathermeister. If you don't have it, now may be the time.

Weathermeister

Thanks for the suggestion! I just finished signing up for Weathermeister. I hadn't even bothered to look at it before thinking I know where to pull the pertinent information. That said, I also spend a lot of time figuring and refiguring - like should I go part way! But this does pull it all together very nicely, plus probably more that I can use without the work of checking each individual resource and doing my own calculations.

I like it!