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lcfitt(at)sbcglobal.net
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 Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 7:54 pm Post subject: Went Flying |
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I went to Idaho to see friends and visit the Kitfox factory this week. The
trip east over the Sierras was a bit bouncy - unusual for the early morning,
with some clouds covering the ridge immediately west of Lake Tahoe. I
diverted a bit south over US50 to stay in clear air then picked up the Derby
course on the GPS and headed northeast. The plan was to stay at about 7500
ft for the duration, but found that the bouncing continued at that altitude.
A glance at the GPS showed a ground speed of 114. I was pleased with that,
when it occurred to me that I had changed the units to knots vs the usual
mph, I was more familiar with. That was done during the flight to the $100
hamburger because at that time all the air to air talk was in knots. I felt
even better with that speed. Becoming tired of the hammering, I decided to
climb a bit to see what it felt like higher. That decision was a good one
as I found it smooth and significantly faster. Changing back to mph, I saw
140 a couple of times and 138 consistently, and made the usual five and a
half hour (with the group) trip, three and a half hours.
The interesting part of the flight was the segment home. I had hoped that
the winds would have moderated, but it was bumpy low and slow at higher
altitudes, so preferring the bumps, I dropped down to pick up some ground
speed and it helped, but I had the bumps and head winds with ground speeds
varying between 80 and about 95 mph max. Once again I decided to forego the
fuel stop in Winnemucca or Derby calculating that I had sufficient fuel for
the trip home and lots of alternatives if I calculated wrong. I monitored
fuel on a regular basis and everything always looked good. I was aware that
the last half hour would be from the high Sierra crossing altitude to the
pattern altitude and was also aware of the fuel feed issues with the aft
located pick-up on the early model wing tanks when in the long glide. I
calculated a 400 fpm descent to make pattern from my crossing altitude. I
always love that part of the trip as it amounts to dropping the nose,
reducing throttle for a comfortable airspeed and enjoying the ride. It was
a good experience as I was able to verify that the low fuel indicator works
as planned. I got a very brief indication at one point and was able to
confirm the fact that the fuel was not flowing through the glass fuel
filters. I leveled out to allow the fuel to flow a bit and it was back to
normal.
The point? I think the next time I will stop for fuel on the way home. I
was comfortable, but not real comforatable. The trip home took a couple of
minutes short of five hours, this at Rotax's 5500 recommended cruise rpm.
And this 5 hours is now my absolute maximum flight time at maximum cruise.
Based on what I see on the sight gauges, I figure I used about 22 gallons of
fuel in that time giving a fuel burn of 4.4 gph. I will fill incrementally
and determine the actual fuel burn. Also I like knowing that the low fuel
indicator works as expected. I am aware of one case where during an annual
inspection a friend found that his system had self distructed and he was
flying ignorant but happy.
Regarding Kitfox. John was at Airventure so I didn't get a chance to see
him or Deb. The factory was busy with lots going on. My impression is that
we are in a period of stability there.
Lowell Fitt
Cameron Park, CA
Model IV-1200 R-912 UL Warp
1998 887 hrs.
| | - The Matronics Kitfox-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Kitfox-List |
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wingnut
Joined: 11 Jan 2006
Posts: 356
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| Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 5:26 am Post subject: Re: Went Flying |
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| Quote: | Becoming tired of the hammering, I decided to
climb a bit to see what it felt like higher. That decision was a good one
as I found it smooth and significantly faster. Changing back to mph, I saw
140 a couple of times and 138 consistently, and made the usual five and a half hour (with the group) trip, three and a half hours. |
Good story. I was looking through the wind charts on aviationweather.org Saturday night in preparation for a short cross country Sunday morning and I noticed the crazy high winds in the north west. I wondered what it would be like flying in that. Now I know  .
| | - The Matronics Kitfox-List Email Forum - | | | Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:
http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Kitfox-List |
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_________________
Luis Rodriguez
Model IV 1200
Rotax 912UL
Flying Weekly
Laurens, SC (34A) |
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