Mooney Bravo Endurance

[debiassi]

Hi there, I have read a lot of articles which seem to suggest Bravos are only good for 3.5 hours? I have just bought one and on the test flight, it was cruising at 13000ft showing a fuel  burn of 16.7GPH leaned to just under 1600 and a TAS of 180kts. We climbed at 900ft per min so lets say 14 minutes at 28gph and 3 for taxi = 9.5gallons. 4 hours at 16.7GPH = 66.8gallons giving a total for 4 hours in the cruise of 76.3 gallons used of 89 usable. Surely when flown economically,(and the TAS is only a few knots difference anyway) this is closer to a 5 hour machine. Any Bravo owners having similar figures? That would suggest in 4.5 hours, you have time to try for your destination and divert if needed and still have 45 minutes in reserve.

[Piloto]

The best range performance I got on a TLS ferry to Spain was 13nm/gal. It was doing about 13gals/hr (ROP) at 169kts at FL 190. Even though the fuel cap placards indicate 45 gals per side you can actually put in 50 gallons if you fill it to the skin top. The 45 gals level is to the bottom edge of the conduit in the tank. The Acclaim 50 gallons capacity is due to the removal of the conduit.

José

[debiassi]

Thanks for that info Jose, that is indeed very interesting and certainly worth bearing in mind.