Cross country - by the numbers

[Chris from PA]

Flew my trusty C model across the USA and back in 14 days.  Here’s a few numbers ..

8,700 - highest DA takeoff (Taos, NM)

5,137 - miles flown

328 - gallons of 100LL

40 - hours flown

17 - cats carried from a shelter in Illinois to a rescue in Colorado 

1 - quart of oil added

0 - hours spent on autopilot (I don’t have one!)

I was very fortunate.  The weather cooperated and I flew VFR almost the entire trip.  The plane ran like a Swiss watch.  Except for a couple of hours around ABQ the air was mostly smooth.  Without exception the folks in the FBOs were friendly and helpful.  I can’t wait to do it again, next time I’m taking the northern route. 

[flyboy0681]

1 quart in 40 hours?

What was the highest enroute altitude?

[MooneyMitch]

Such a super fun adventure!    More to come. 

Edited June 18, 2021 by MooneyMitch

[Oscar Avalle]

Great fun....

[Janat83]

I love my M20C, such a great airplane for long flights, what was your MP, RPM and your average fuel burn with speed? 

[cliffy]

Well that beats my Sun n Fun  trip from SGU (St George UT) and back BUT I did my return at 1500 AGL until SAF and didn't talk to a sole except for towers we landed at !  Just like the old days  :-)

[Skates97]

What a great flight, brings back memories of our Coast to Coast a couple years ago in our D. I had no autopilot either. I just had a GFC500 installed and after some flights with it I can't wait to do another Coast to Coast.

[Chris from PA]

I was very fortunate in that the weather was great for most of the trip. We flew 10,500’ westbound and 9,500’ eastbound. The highest we got was 12,500’ to cross the mountains near Angel Fire (KAXX).  I flew with the throttle wide open, around 20 MP, and the RPM set at 2400.  This gave me a fuel burn of 8 gallons per hour and a true airspeed of 135 - 140.  

[amillet]

@Chris from PA what do the numbers 185 on the vertical stabilizer signify? 

[steingar]

I am incredulous. This is one of the most amazing things I have ever read. I would have never in a million years imagined it.

 

 

 

That there aren’t enough cats in Colorado.

[Hank]

4 hours ago, amillet said:

@Chris from PA what do the numbers 185 on the vertical stabilizer signify? 

Well, Js have "201" for their advertised speed in mph. My C runs well at about 170 mph, I imagine flat out that I could coax another 15 from her. Maybe the OP or a previous owner liked the look and style of the J scheme, and created a C version of it.

My own long XC, from WV to WY and back, I averaged 129 mph Eastbound and 151 mph Westbound (block speed). But I was a new pilot and Mooney owner, hitting 200 Total Hours on the trip and ending just over 150 in my Mooney. 

[kerry]

I noticed your plane on the ramp at KVGT. The 185 on the tail really stood out.

[Chris from PA]

Hank nailed it.  I wanted a vintage paint job and I kept being drawn to the straight lines and numbers on the tail of the 201/231/252 paint schemes out there. 185 mph is the top speed out of my POH. I get there on occasion .. when I’m headed downhill! 

[DCarlton]

Cool to see KCRQ on your plan.  That's my home base.  For the times I've gone East, I've taken the southern route and gone through KELP to avoid higher altitudes.  Nice to see you went more direct.  I'll check out your route.  

[Hank]

1 hour ago, Chris from PA said:

Hank nailed it.  I wanted a vintage paint job and I kept being drawn to the straight lines and numbers on the tail of the 201/231/252 paint schemes out there. 185 mph is the top speed out of my POH. I get there on occasion .. when I’m headed downhill! 

I just checked my Owners Manual (1970 C), the highest speed is 174mph at 2500msl, 27"/2700 at 2200lbs.

[0TreeLemur]

In the spirit of Mooney marketing, I'd go with redline: 189 

[Hank]

22 minutes ago, 0TreeLemur said:

In the spirit of Mooney marketing, I'd go with redline: 189 

Hey, that means I could put "200" on my C!! 

I've seen 186 knots = 214 mph groundspeed, leaned out at 7500 msl . . . .

[0TreeLemur]

45 minutes ago, Hank said:

Hey, that means I could put "200" on my C!! 

I've seen 186 knots = 214 mph groundspeed, leaned out at 7500 msl . . . .

Our first long cross country in January, 2018, we experienced about about two hours of >200 knot g.s. returning from Colorado at 9500 ft.   Sadly we haven't seen anything like that since.  Made it back in 5-1/2 hours including a fuel stop in Arkansas.

[RobertGary1]

On 6/18/2021 at 9:22 AM, cliffy said:

Well that beats my Sun n Fun  trip from SGU (St George UT) and back BUT I did my return at 1500 AGL until SAF and didn't talk to a sole except for towers we landed at !  Just like the old days  :-)

I miss the old st George airport. 

[carusoam]

Nice work Chris!

Thanks for sharing all of the details…

You get a ton of bonus life points for saving so many animals… 

Did you include them in your flight plan?  18 SOBs…

185… that is interesting…

Makes me wonder what the marketing number would be for the 310hp Acclaim?  

Cruise speed for O3s is usually 195kts… flaming dragon mode… converted to mph (tradition) 224.  Kind of pails in comparison with the 231…

Regarding oil use… not much of it… expect that the number of T/Os and blowing oil out the vent tube or past the oil rings becomes minimal with really long XCs…

Great thread!

Best regards,

-a-