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Dan,

Thanks for that rule of thumb.  I'd never heard that rule before.

Tim also found that Cessna C-150 POH and the cruise table.  Here's a
link he sent me online:
http://www.kcnaeroclub.org/GetForms/Cessna150Manual.pdf
Scroll down to the cruise table near the bottom.

It clearly shows that slowing down can get you great range, even at
lower altitudes.  The advantage of high altitudes is that you get the
same range at a much higher speed - 'mushing along fast' like it says in
Stick and Rudder.  (Be aware, that to get fuel efficiency, you need to
plan your descent and do a good cruise descent to get back the energy
you pumped into the plane on the way up.)

I sure broke the rule of thumb a lot by climbing high for shorter trips.
That's related to my fundamental motion sickness.  Though motion
sickness is mostly cured by flying, those bumpy, thermally days still
make me want to climb up to the smooth layer.

It'll be interesting to see how that plays out when I get my Challenger
flying.  With half the wing loading of a Coupe it'll get bounced around
much worse.  But if the thermals are good enough, I can shut off the
engine and soar!  Still, it'll be more likely I'll fly the Challenger
low than ever in my Coupe.

Even so, I bet I spend more time up in the smooth, cool, high air than
any other Challenger.

Ed Burkhead
http://edburkhead.com/
ed -at- edburkheadQQQ.com   (change -at- and remove the QQQ)





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