A very wise and experienced Beechcraft Owner & Beech Lister, aka
Old
Bob, has suggested
that flight at best L/D airspeed (or Best Glide in your POH) times a factor of
between 1.1 and 1.2 will yield nearly the optimum in fuel mileage efficiency. I
have found his guidance to be true in my B55.
Here are some examples of power settings that
I have used for maximum range/economy NM/gal in my B55:
Usually 8,000' to 12.000'
17" to 19" MP
2100 RPM
7.5 to 9.0 gallons/hour per
engine
Usually in the range of 128 - 138 KIAS
Calculated TAS is usually 150
- 162 KTAS
NEWS FLASH: Recent 700nm Trip
at 9.3 gph/side, 2100 RPM, 19" MP (Full Throttle), 12,000' and OAT 11C.
I
achieved 172 KTAS with these settings on this trip!
See
Pics of Actual in-flight Power Settings at 10,000'/8.2 gph per side/12C that
yielded 162KTAS HERE
(Click thru 4 pics)
Read Mike Busch's
#59 Article on Leaning
Your results may vary, but
with these days of >$4.00/gal avgas, I'm getting fuel mileage improvements
anywhere from 15 - 25% with the above power settings vs. WOT (wide open
throttle), 2300 RPM and 10.5 - 11.5 gal/hour with 178 - 185 KTAS!
Here is a P-Baron L/D Curve (the normally
aspirated versions may be similar with a slight shift to the left - don't quote
me on that).
Oh sure, I am
"punished" by having to spend an extra 3/4 hour or so in my plane on
my long trips. Get a
Portable
DVD Player and make the time in your bird that much more enjoyable LOL!
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