We all know that you can draw a line in any direction through a single datapoint, but here is an interesting tidbit from a cross-country formation flight we took today.
I had left the Valkyrie (RV-8) at Big Bear last Monday while I drove to Carson City. Dayton Murdock volunteered to fly me down to pick the airplane up today, so we launched at 0630 in his beautiful red machine - the RV-4. We had a great flight down the Owens Valley and through the restricted airspace of the Antelope Valley (the female controller was wishing everyone a happy Father's Day as she handed them off), then a hearty breakfast at the Barnstorm Cafe. We mounted up for the return trip about 0945 planning a route formation with me in the lead. It was another delightful trip, with bumps starting to build once we got north of Bishop.
Now for the datapoint. We had carefully topped both planes off at Big Bear, and then we filled them up at Carson City at the other end. Dayton was flying loose formation most of the time, tucking in tight on occasion for the fun of it. For the two hour and ten minute flight, the RV-8 took 17.07 Gallons, and the RV-4 16.6. I suspect that I might have been leaned out a little further than he was, and that might have been why they were close - I would have guessed he'd burn a couple of gallons less over that flight with the smaller, lighter airplane. I was also on autopilot almost all the way, and he was hand-flying - another difference.
O-320 with a fixed-pitch Cato on the RV-4, O-360 with a Hartzell BA on the -8.
But the most important thing of all - we had a good time and enjoyed flight and the scenery of the Sierra Nevada! With the cost of everything else in aviation a gallon or tow (plus or minus) is pretty trivial....
Paul
I had left the Valkyrie (RV-8) at Big Bear last Monday while I drove to Carson City. Dayton Murdock volunteered to fly me down to pick the airplane up today, so we launched at 0630 in his beautiful red machine - the RV-4. We had a great flight down the Owens Valley and through the restricted airspace of the Antelope Valley (the female controller was wishing everyone a happy Father's Day as she handed them off), then a hearty breakfast at the Barnstorm Cafe. We mounted up for the return trip about 0945 planning a route formation with me in the lead. It was another delightful trip, with bumps starting to build once we got north of Bishop.
Now for the datapoint. We had carefully topped both planes off at Big Bear, and then we filled them up at Carson City at the other end. Dayton was flying loose formation most of the time, tucking in tight on occasion for the fun of it. For the two hour and ten minute flight, the RV-8 took 17.07 Gallons, and the RV-4 16.6. I suspect that I might have been leaned out a little further than he was, and that might have been why they were close - I would have guessed he'd burn a couple of gallons less over that flight with the smaller, lighter airplane. I was also on autopilot almost all the way, and he was hand-flying - another difference.
O-320 with a fixed-pitch Cato on the RV-4, O-360 with a Hartzell BA on the -8.
But the most important thing of all - we had a good time and enjoyed flight and the scenery of the Sierra Nevada! With the cost of everything else in aviation a gallon or tow (plus or minus) is pretty trivial....
Paul
