Turbo Season

[jlunseth]

You guys with the Bravos and Acclaims are probably going to snort, but I came back to Minneapolis last night from near Williston ND at an average cruise speed of 240 kts. GS, FL210.  We saw 246 briefly, but mostly we were in the high 230's.  Picked up a little speed in the descent.  Not operating the engine in "fire breathing dragon" mode either, just 165 TAS.  ATC shows 488 miles in 2:02, actually it was about 520 in 2:12, we picked our clearance up a few miles from our departure airport.   

Man, though, it was COLD up there.  -41 C.  First time the aircraft heater could not keep up. 

This seems to be the "sweet spot" of the season, going west the winds down at 12,000 or under have been less than half what they are in the flight levels, and more from the south or southwest.  Up in the flight levels they have been getting organized and screaming from about 280-290 the last couple of weeks, so any west to east trip has been pretty good going out, and jet fast coming back.

Had to start our descent 150 nm out this time, worked out well. 

[Parker_Woodruff]

You have no idea how excited I am to fly from Texas to Florida in December. 

[Parker_Woodruff]

PS that is cold. 

PPS - looks like I could bust 300mph today from TX to FL. 

[jlunseth]

If you were looking at the winds aloft on aviationweather.gov, that angry looking orange band was further north yesterday, and that is what we got.  Depending on where you are the winds aloft are a little less organized lower, I think I said that, so going east to west you have some decent choices.  West to east the higher in that orange belt the better. 

In a couple of weeks it would probably not be hard to break 300 mph, we were about 270 last night.  Also in a few weeks we start to get the "hook" in the jet stream where it breaks from its easterly course in Minnesota and goes due south to TX.  Minn. to TX can drop to a couple of hours in my "slow" 231.  A fellow from here set a single engine piston record in an Acclaim a couple of years ago, Minn. to TX, in that "hook."

The one thing you have to get your head around is the descent.  To keep from hurting ears, I like to do about 500 fpm, and if you are descending let's say 20,000 feet that is 40 minutes.  You would think that tipping the nose over would result in substantial speed increases, and it does for awhile, but as you get lower the winds will moderate and your TAS will drop, so no point in starting the descent say 200 miles out even if that is what the math would seem to say.  About 150 nm out seems to work pretty good in my aircraft.  Going in to FL I am not sure what you will encounter for ATC.  Much more restrictive there, and you need to be prepared to get a "cram down" type of descent. 

Yeah, I would wear warm clothes.  Whatever air leaks into the aircraft is going to be really really cold, and the ground temp. last night was only about 0C, it gets colder later.  I am sure you could see -50's aloft later in the winter.  Engine stays toasty but the heater can't keep up. 

[aviatoreb]

Quote: jlunseth

You guys with the Bravos and Acclaims are probably going to snort, but I came back to Minneapolis last night from near Williston ND at an average cruise speed of 240 kts. GS, FL210.  We saw 246 briefly, but mostly we were in the high 230's.  Picked up a little speed in the descent.  Not operating the engine in "fire breathing dragon" mode either, just 165 TAS.  ATC shows 488 miles in 2:02, actually it was about 520 in 2:12, we picked our clearance up a few miles from our departure airport.   

Man, though, it was COLD up there.  -41 C.  First time the aircraft heater could not keep up. 

This seems to be the "sweet spot" of the season, going west the winds down at 12,000 or under have been less than half what they are in the flight levels, and more from the south or southwest.  Up in the flight levels they have been getting organized and screaming from about 280-290 the last couple of weeks, so any west to east trip has been pretty good going out, and jet fast coming back.

Had to start our descent 150 nm out this time, worked out well. 

[jlunseth]

We did not have alot of trouble going west.  We were using Flight Following and there is no info. on Flightaware, but we were averaging in the high 150's GS.  That's not as good as our trip back, but not nothing either.  Its like sailing, have to be smart about the winds.

One thing I forgot to mention is check your O2 frequently.  Our built in tank is big enough that even longer trips around 4+ hours have never been an issue in the summer.  But it is in the back of the aircraft unheated, and the low temps drop the tank pressures significantly.  We definitely had enough, but I am not sure we would have for 3 hours - two people.

[joenut]

Quote: aviatoreb

Just don't head West!!!

[aviatoreb]

Quote: joenut

The world is round, afterall!