Van's Air Force
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RV-12 flight planning
- Thread starter garyr78
- Start date
In my SLSA I plan on 115kts and 4.8gph and it seems to be consistently accurate.
I fly solo 99% of the time at 5300rpm. I've been experimenting with cruising at 5000 rpm on longer flights and see about 4.2 gph and sped at 111-113kts.
I plug these numbers into ForeFlight and they seem to hold up FWIW
I fly solo 99% of the time at 5300rpm. I've been experimenting with cruising at 5000 rpm on longer flights and see about 4.2 gph and sped at 111-113kts.
I plug these numbers into ForeFlight and they seem to hold up FWIW
PilotBrent
Well Known Member
POH
Sec 5-6 in RV-12 POH shows range or different altitudes. It really pays to cruise up high and to answer your question you need to qualify at what altitude.
Personally, since I try to get above 7,500 for longer trips, I plan for 122 TAS, @5,450 RPM and 4.8 g/h. Fuel is cheap these days so I'm not an economy guy of late.
Sec 5-6 in RV-12 POH shows range or different altitudes. It really pays to cruise up high and to answer your question you need to qualify at what altitude.
Personally, since I try to get above 7,500 for longer trips, I plan for 122 TAS, @5,450 RPM and 4.8 g/h. Fuel is cheap these days so I'm not an economy guy of late.
Brent is absolutely right, I see those same numbers at the higher altitudes. Lately getting above the clouds finds cooler and smoother air. I tend to shoot for 5300 rpm in the 4500-5500-7500 area depending on clouds and direction of flight.
Turner, how are you enjoying that new SLSA? How is the Garmin G3X Touch?
Loving it - including the Garmin. But now that I'm fully back into flying, thinking of looking for more speed and range - we're learning that longer cross country trips may be a focus for us - if the -12 had another hour of fuel and more baggage space this wouldn't be an issue but that's the LSA world. Considering transition to the 9a sometime in near future.
More on the G3X - I continue to be impressed with how nice this system is. My wife has stated emphatically that she won't fly in an airplane without traffic awareness - and I can't believe how much traffic I'm aware of now that I wouldn't have seen before. Even with flight following, ADS-B usually give me more time to react and look. No surprise to anyone on the forum, but a revelation to a lapsed steam gauge pilot.
The autopilot is so much better than the old Century in my Piper it is a game-changer for me.
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Brent, I'm jealous - I'm seeing no more than 115-118 at any altitude below 5500RPM. Are you using the standard (Sensenich) prop?
PilotBrent
Well Known Member
Factory supplied Sensenich prop. Pitched exactly in range that Van's PAP recommends - in fact I know of some guys that are more aggressive with the pitch but I like the balance I have between climb and cruise. Did find that adding the wheel pants added several knots at cruise (assume you have those already). Routinely see 124 kts TAS on the Skyview in smooth air in fact. When its a little turbulent (which for an LSA doesn't take much) I do throttle back as the RPM will swing above 5,500 as the pitch moves up and down on autopilot. But on those smooth air days I'm as close to 5,500 I can get.
I'm guessing the factory pitched my prop more for climb - may play with this a bit during the next condition inspection. Thanks
WingedFrog
Well Known Member
I decided to cruise close to the top of the green arc to avoid having to change my speed in case of turbulence so I use 105 knots. Without wheel pants and with the propeller pitch I have this keeps me in the 5000 to 5200 RPM which the Rotax 912 seems to be happy with...
