I love it when you guys talk about fuel in "pounds."

I like to land with at least 140 pounds of fuel in the 310...

Last week. West Bound.

I had a Malibu and it wouldn't do it if the winds were above about 15 knots or so unless you really liked to skimp on reserves or make it go extremely slow. I did 1500nm twice into the wind. It will do 1500nm

I assume you are asking nm, right?

mU2 solitaire has the best range of the fleet and its not doing 1500 in any conditions outside an 80 knot tailwind.

merlin will do, but not off your grass strip.

Commander with -5 and slipper tanks might but you will be slow.

Pc12 probably will and is arguably the best plane for the job and runway you require.

Commander 1000 and maybe 840 should do it.

Conquest will but I have no idea about runway requirement. I am not sure I am taking a heavy turbo prop off grass in any scenario.

Piston evolution is proclaimed to be able to do it.

tbm 700 pulled way back can do 1300nm or so with reserves.

My research into aerostars indicated they could do it. 1200nm was about the edge of the envelope.

I had a hard 1300nm range requirement when I was shopping. It is very tough to meet, especially with reserves. If it's IFR at your destination, the list gets really small. I am actually doing 1300nm in the MU2 later today. Should land with around 580lbs and that is with a 30kt tailwind. Same flight in the Malibu and I would be landing with 35 gallons!

How much fuel did you land with?

How much fuel did you land with?

Adding, one more criteria, needs to be relatively fast (250kts+) so the Malibu or Bonanza pulled back to flight idle is not going to cut it.

This thing says it maybe could do it:

http://epicaircraft.com/

This thing definitely could do it:

http://www.evolutionaircraft.com/aircra ... on-piston/

I'm reminded of the saying:

Cheap, Fast, Good (pick two)

Here's your plane (if you can find a couple partners to split the purchase cost):

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilatus_PC-24

http://m.aviationweek.com/business-avia ... everything

As Anthony said, no.

I have flown KOMA-KSQL westbound in the Solitaire, about 1250 nm. I have flown KDTO-KSQL, similar distance. Light headwinds, maybe ~20 kts. Wouldn't do it unless destination was definite VFR. But landed with about 500 lbs, about an hour in cruise (less maneuvering down low, however).

But I have gone coast to coast westbound a couple times and only made one fuel stop. Not every time... :-)

Say you find the unicorn airplane that can fit this profile. Do you really want to sit in it for 6/7/8 hrs without getting out to stretch/take a bathroom break/eat a meal?

I'm ready to get out of any airplane after about 3 hrs.

Good luck in your search!

How much fuel did you land with?

We should maybe define westbound planes a little more in terms of wind.

I think that the PC12 is so versatile in this area because it can go lower and higher, depending on winds and not suffer that much from fuel burn differences.

If the winds are > 20 knots then the PC12 ain't doing that with enough reserves to make it comfortable. In Jason's example he most probably only had about a 5-10 headwind......given the avg groundspeed......

And my airplane is quite a few knots faster than Jasons

The later commanders can do it. 474 gallons no need for extra tanks.

Of course It all depends like everything else in aviation.

Well, if the headwinds are really that low, a 300 knot turbo prop could probably do the trip in the same time.


Calling ahead and assuming I am stopping in a not busy airspace, I am able to turn fuel in 30min. On a 1500nm trip, the difference in flight time between 265 and 300 knot avg TAS is about 30min....

Obviously stopping is not desirable, but going fast helps mitigate and there are some good cheap and fast planes out there!

Which is what you'll need after 6+ hours.

The info is in that pic I posted. I cruise in the 260's. I had a headwind the whole way. Flew at FL280 burning about 360PPH. Landed with 450Lbs.

The only single pilot planes that will beat it are CJ3, CJ4 and Phenom.