Gas Games

Fuel is the single biggest variable expense for aircraft operators. What if you could reduce your cost by 30 percent? In addition to being expensive, gas is heavy. New airplanes containing the creature comforts of a luxury car have terrible useful loads with full tanks. Maybe three normal adults can fit into a typical four-place airplane before being overweight. Add baggage, golf clubs, or fishing poles and youre leaving gas behind. Trading gas for weight can severely limit range, one of the consequences of traveling by plane.

jmiller

Tuesday, July 29, 2014 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Optimizing flight speed is a primary method for significantly reducing aircraft fuel consumption and extending range; slowing cruise speeds towards Vy can improve specific range by 16-27% for various aircraft.
Flying at higher altitudes can further enhance fuel efficiency by reducing drag, with greater savings observed for faster aircraft and longer flights, provided the fuel cost of the climb is justified.
Pilots should evaluate total operational costs, as solely optimizing for fuel efficiency by flying slower or higher might be offset by other variable expenses (e.g., instructor fees), potentially making faster flights more economical in certain scenarios.

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Fuel is the single biggest variable expense for aircraft operators. What if you could reduce your cost by 30 percent? In addition to being expensive, gas is heavy. New airplanes containing the creature comforts of a luxury car have terrible useful loads with full tanks. Maybe three normal adults can fit into a typical four-place airplane before being overweight. Add baggage, golf clubs, or fishing poles and you’re leaving gas behind. Trading gas for weight can severely limit range, one of the consequences of traveling by plane.

All of these issues can be addressed with a little knowledge. As an example, we’ll take a trip from Falcon Field, GA—just south of Atlanta—to Dare County, NC to visit Kitty Hawk. We’ll fly a Cessna 172N, Beechcraft E33A Bonanza and our editor’s Cessna 340A.
Speed