My longest time aloft was 6 hours and 20 minutes in my hang glider. 145 miles, 0 gallons used (unless you count all the gas the truck used to find me and take me back).

Vince

TBM 850

My longest non-stops:

W78 to KDTO (South Boston, VA to Denton, TX) 925nm

KDTO to KVDF (Denton, TX to Tampa, FL) 827nm

And my routine non-stop:

KDTO to KATW (Denton, TX to Appleton, WI) 777nm

Always at or above 10,000', LOP and mindful of the relationship between parasitic airframe drag and airspeed (drag squares as airspeed doubles).

Reducing power and FF I can watch the JPI NM/Gal and fuel remaining at destination increase.

If one ever believes their fuel planning situation to be in jeopardy, I suggest slowing down!

Mike

The Carson Speed!

The Carson Speed!

My target best range speed is Best L/D x ~1.1 or about 132KIAS.

My guide for speed/range trade offs is the fuel remaining at destination (FRAD). Once I get a "happy" FRAD, I'm good with that speed/power setting.

I've never taken the time nor do I have the inclination to dive into the "Carson" speed metrics. Others may choose to operate on that principle and that's cool, but for me it's all about a comfortable FRAD given the expected conditions at destination.

Which brings to mind why I prefer XM WX in the cockpit for my long range flights because I can receive WX from the first NM to the last NM at any point in the flight (and make speed/fuel adjustments accordingly as soon as conditions dictate). ADS-B WX has a range limitation (presumedly bandwidth limits the FAA has imposed on their system????).

Mike

Mike-

I do the exact same thing with FRAD.
Carson speed is simple: 1.3 x best glide.

For me, at cruise, that’s only about 20kts below my IAS in cruise.
I wonder if the Carson speed applies to turbines in the same way it applies to pistons.
Any engineers know?

Yes it does.

Carson speed is simply an application of a bit of calculus to the aerodynamic laws that govern our airplane.

It is a minimization function of power/speed in other words the most knots per gallon.

If you want most miles per gallon then best glide is your speed.

Anything between the two is acceptable.

Faster than Carson you’re going too fast and wasting fuel you should go higher instead. Anything slower than best glide and your carrying too much drag and you should go faster (even if you have to descend to do so).

For any airplane Carson speed is 1.32 times best glide and is an indicated airspeed.

Completed this flight yesterday. Torrance, CA to Idabel, OK. Distance was 1,185 nm and the whole way was smooth! Great flight.

995 ...miss 4 digits by 5 miles. Not the longest flight in time. 8 states, could have easily made it 10 with slight detour.

Addison Texas to Norwood Massachusetts, 1335 NM. Piper Aztec at 13,000 feet in March 2009, six hours even. 40-60 knot tailwind allowed landing with 22 gallons of gas.