Backcountry Pilot • Gas Mileage and Fuel Costs

Gas Mileage and Fuel Costs

Nothing happens without it. Discuss fuel locations, quality, alternatives, and anything else related to this critical resource.
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Re: Gas Mileage and Fuel Costs

OregonMaule wrote:
Nosedragger wrote:I get 38 average with my Duramax/CNG hybrid at a combined cost of 4.50/gal for Diesel and Natural gas combo at an average cost of .12 cents a mile. I'll have to say wedging my dirty, smoky, 600 horse truck into two tiny parking spots between hippie cars in the special "hybrid parking only" section in downtown J-Hole is a close second. They about choke on their soysauge and wheygs when I come wheeling into their happy place.


38 MPG making 600HP That's the best I have ever heard.

G'Day


It gets better. It only cost $1400 to do the conversion. Different than mine but similar:http://www.dieselpowermag.com/tech/0905dp_natruell_cng_conversion_kit/viewall.html
Last edited by Nosedragger on Fri Nov 30, 2012 6:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Gas Mileage and Fuel Costs

I drive a 04 Titan
Terrible mileage 11-12 in town and 14-15 on the highway
On the plus side it makes my plane seem more efficient :)
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Re: Gas Mileage and Fuel Costs

My 65 horse T cart will go 88 mph on 3 gallons per hr.. That's 29.3 mpg.. Not too bad for being built in 1946. Needs 72 octane.. :D

Oh yea, it's for sale too..ha ha..
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Re: Gas Mileage and Fuel Costs

Nosedragger wrote:
OregonMaule wrote:
Nosedragger wrote:I get 38 average with my Duramax/CNG hybrid at a combined cost of 4.50/gal for Diesel and Natural gas combo at an average cost of .12 cents a mile. I'll have to say wedging my dirty, smoky, 600 horse truck into two tiny parking spots between hippie cars in the special "hybrid parking only" section in downtown J-Hole is a close second. They about choke on their soysauge and wheygs when I come wheeling into their happy place.


38 MPG making 600HP That's the best I have ever heard.

G'Day


It gets better. It only cost $1400 to do the conversion. Different than mine but similar:http://www.dieselpowermag.com/tech/0905dp_natruell_cng_conversion_kit/viewall.html


I hope they didn't use the lie-o-meter on the dash to calculate their 40-MPG... Those things are terribly inaccurate and only get worse when you start playing with timing and pulsewidth:

Image

How big is your CNG tank and how often do you fill it up?

Sorry for the derail, blackrock!
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Re: Gas Mileage and Fuel Costs

CamTom12 wrote:
I hope they didn't use the lie-o-meter on the dash to calculate their 40-MPG... Those things are terribly inaccurate and only get worse when you start playing with timing and pulsewidth:

Image

How big is your CNG tank and how often do you fill it up?

Sorry for the derail, blackrock!

I have a 12 gallon tank and I just hook it up every night to the slow fill compressor, In theory I can go 450 miles but I don't think I've actually done that. My lie-ometer isn't too far off last time I checked.
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Re: Gas Mileage and Fuel Costs

Don't have current numbers but here is what I have from a last year when I was running 100ll:

Cruise speed ~103mph and 4.2gph gives ~24mpg I rarely cruise this fast. I Usually pull it back to about 95mph and about 3.7gph (~25mpg). Best I've ever done is when I was putting around at ~80mph burning ~2.8gph (~28gph).

This is in my metal wing Luscombe with a stroked C-85.
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Re: Gas Mileage and Fuel Costs

Gotcha all beat, 0.846 mpg
I am glad I'm not paying the bill.
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Re: Gas Mileage and Fuel Costs

porterjet wrote:Gotcha all beat, 0.846 mpg
I am glad I'm not paying the bill.


If we're talking work rides, I pull ~100 mph at around 40 GPH. That's a little less than 2.5 MPG. Not as bad as yours, but still worth noting!
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Re: Gas Mileage and Fuel Costs

I wanna see Joey (C5Engineer) pipe up on this one! He'll make us all feel better about our fuel usage! :D


Here's me:

Kitfox: 100 mph, 3.2 gph, 32 mpg, $0.12 per mile
'01 VW Jetta: 48 mpg, $0.08 per mile
'94 Dodge (Cummins): 18 mpg, $0.22 per mile
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Re: Gas Mileage and Fuel Costs

whee wrote:Don't have current numbers but here is what I have from a last year when I was running 100ll:

Cruise speed ~103mph and 4.2gph gives ~24mpg I rarely cruise this fast. I Usually pull it back to about 95mph and about 3.7gph (~25mpg). Best I've ever done is when I was putting around at ~80mph burning ~2.8gph (~28gph).

This is in my metal wing Luscombe with a stroked C-85.

Those are amazingly similar to the numbers I get with my Rans S-6/912 ULS. Except I spend a lot of time low and slow in the 75-85 range @ less than 3gph. Also I burn premium auto gas and use no oil between changes.

My Nissan Frontier gets ~ 20 mpg highway and city.
Last edited by S-12Flyer on Sun Dec 02, 2012 6:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Gas Mileage and Fuel Costs

I'm still at 3.2 to 3.7 GPH on my cross country legs, and putting around local playing ultralight pilot sub 3 GPH is real easy to do. I got you all beat though when it comes to the several hours a year I get deadstick ridge soaring! I'm coming up on 300 hrs for this year, and the economy of the Rotax is a huge factor in that, sure I can't haul like a Maule but I make do, lots of airtime is the tradeoff for me.

Other rides:
The crane truck, about 6 mpg I think, maybe 8, hard to tell as lots of time is spent idling while operating it as opposed to going down the road.

The '98 12 valve Dodge Cummins 1 ton with a dump bed, about 18, only driven when I need the lumber rack or the dump bed hauling, for work in other words.

The '99 Toyota Rav4 AWD, with the rear seats out it's like a little panel truck, 28 mpg, it lets me keep the Dodge parked more often as I can carry a shit load of gear in it!

The '08 Yaris, laugh all you want... mid 40's mpg and fun to drive, park, and u-turn (tightest turning circle out there I think). It's the one I jump in 90% of the time. I like the ability to select the right rig for the days chores, but heck like an airplane it's all a compromise.
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Re: Gas Mileage and Fuel Costs

I'm not sure about my 182.

But my T600 cost about .62 cents (4.00 a gallon avg) a mile in fuel. If I idle, it goes up to about .80 cents a mile :D
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Re: Gas Mileage and Fuel Costs

The Porter averages 40 US Gal/Hr of AVTUR and will go about 120nm on that. So I make that 3.5mpg. Glad I'm not paying :D
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Re: Gas Mileage and Fuel Costs

Cessna 185. IO 520-d. 3 blade 88" Mac. 26" bushwheels. Baby bushwheel. Typical numbers are 24" MP, 2300 RPM, 11.3 gph. 145 mph TAS.

Gives 12.8 mpg.
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Re: Gas Mileage and Fuel Costs

It was always a guess in LRB (P172D, O-360, CS prop) until my fuel flow meter was hooked up to my new 430W in May. Now it will give me a mpg readout, which in a no-wind situation is 13.4 mpg, 9.8 gph, 2400 rpm, 21" MP, 115 kts TAS. Hardly matches my RAV4's 24 mpg/3 gph at 75 mph--but then, it's flying! :)

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