From: Walt N415WM
Date: 9/4/99
Time: 11:46:10 AM
Some preliminary information on performance: My bride and I with more luggage than can humanly be carried plus two sets of golf clubs have now traveled from Minnesota to ME, NY, MA, WV, NJ, and are headed for NC later this weekend and although I started out being committed to collecting and analyzing trip data … I have not done as good a job as I would have liked. However, I did some calculations the results of which I think are reasonable and accurate.
When we flew to Maine from Minnesota we bucked headwinds (unbelievable that we would have headwinds going from West to East .. thanks Hurricane Dennis) the offset was the WX was great … sun and great visibility. It was so great to get out of the flat lands of the Midwest. We crossed Lake Michigan fueled up in MI. We flew across Canada (IFR flt plan but VFR day) into NY where we again stretched our legs (we're old) and took off for Kennebunkport (actually Biddeford airport). The scenery was spectacular … hills, lakes and then ocean! Sorry to get carried away… the real point is that we burned 9.3 GPH @ 2500 RPM and about 22.5 MP while leaning on the lean side of peak EGT. We flew most of the way at 9000 feet. TAS was 145. We did occasionally test TAS and fuel burn rates. We could get to 160 to 161 TAS at 2700 RPM leaning for best power … fuel flow about 10.5 to 11.5 GPH. Generally, we are comfortable leaning on the lean side of peak and getting fuel flow readings of 8.5 to 9.5 GPH with TAS speeds of 145 - 150.
The plane is easy to fly and very stable. I had a minor issue with the autopilot where I had to hand fly the plane for several hours in straight and level (boring) and had no problem trimming the plane to both heading and altitude with some minor maintenance to ensure both were on target … the curse of IFR flying … accuracy ;-)
I talked to Mike Busch about some design issues related to ease of use and he is taking notes and make recommend some minor interior changes. For example, the back seat belts are in the way when loading and unloading luggage especially when the back seats are down … station wagon mode. It would seem to me that there should be a way to "stow" the back seat belts so they are not in the way. The height of the back seat backs are too high. When the seat backs are down they block access to the floor behind the front seats … not completely but just enough to be a nuisance. I question why the back seats need to be that high … rear end collision are not that likely and if one were to occur …
In closing I will tell you that don't know or haven't seen the East Coast the ONLY way to see it is from the air. We toured the Maine coast from Kennebunkport to Rockland (ran out of time to go to Bar Harbor) then to Martha's Vineyard. Spectacular! We have now been to Nantucket, MA; White Plains, NY; Hudson, NY … we then flew the Hudson River Corridor right through New York City … WOW there is a kick in the pants … we flew through following the right side of the river and we about 900 AGL through New York City. We waived at the Statue of Liberty and headed to Martinsburg, WV. We were going to AOPA, but believe it or not they closed EARLY Friday for Labor Day Weekend … TACKY! We are now back in New Jersey and plan on seeing North Carolina (Hendersonville) and then home via Cincinnati, OH for another brief stop. What a plane and what a great trip.