Kris Maynard has posted 10 world and United States national aviation records in the past few years, including a United States Transcontinental Speed Record.
The Fishers resident is about to add another record to his list. Maynard plans to be the first person in the world to set a record for aircraft efficiency.
The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale and National Aeronautic Association, the governing bodies of world and United States national aviation records, will begin to recognize aircraft efficiency as a new category of world aviation records March 1.
Kris Maynard is shown in his Aviat Husky, A-1A equipped with a Lycoming 0-360 engine and a 76-inch Hartzell propeller.
It's apparently the Geo Metro of the skies, capable of 12.2 km/kg of fuel, at low power settings. That converts to about 20.7 mpg
The guy is truly dedicated to what he's doing:
Quote:
“My goal is two-fold,” said Maynard. “First, I want to post an efficiency mark that is respectable, and being the first person in the world to do so will be icing on the cake. My second goal is to draw attention to the record category itself and help focus competitive energy throughout the aeronautical industry toward improving airplane efficiency.”
For his test run he was in the airplane for over 13 hours. Just imagine sitting in front of your TV for 13 hours without getting out of the chair.
I once played FlightSim for 12 hours...
But, I set the A/P and used the lav.
...and went to the Grocery...
OK, it was more like an hour of "flying the plane"
In all seriousness, that cockpit is quite small for a 13-hour test run! I always thought of the brand as a "cropduster" type, but it's actually the modern-day answer to the Piper Cub. A brief description.
Great find. No offense to the airline industry, but I'd love to have a plane that cruises modestly and has a decent range. Oh the time and frustration that would be saved...
This one will go over 600 statute miles at 75% power, or 140 MPH. Geez that would cut the time. At 55% power, that's 132 MPH and a lot of extra fuel saved.
RH77
__________________ If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called research ― Albert Einstein
The Husky a great STOL aircraft(short takeoff and landing) but I don't think this is very practical. I think this is a unmodified aircraft. So at 55% and 130 mph he burns 7.7 gallons/hour. This means that he is running it considerable lower then that to get the 4 gallons an hour required. It would be quicker to drive and you would burn less gas in the process.
Can't really compare it to the airlines because when full they would do much better FE wise then that. Although the hassle factor is big negative with the airlines. YMMV
__________________
"Judge a person by their questions rather than their answers."
Kris Maynard is shown in his Aviat Husky, A-1A equipped with a Lycoming 0-360 engine and a 76-inch Hartzell propeller.
It's apparently the Geo Metro of the skies, capable of 12.2 km/kg of fuel, at low power settings. That converts to about 20.7 mpg
Not to rain on the parade, but the CAFE Foundation used to run some efficiency competition at the Oshkosh (now AirVenture) Airshow between 1981-1990. I'm pretty sure they got up over 30mpg. Then again, almost all of the 2007 PAV competitors made it over 20mpg.
Last edited by Fuzzy; 02-20-2008 at 12:35 AM..
Reason: Found the dates of the CAFE 400 efficiency races.
The Husky a great STOL aircraft(short takeoff and landing) but I don't think this is very practical. I think this is a unmodified aircraft. So at 55% and 130 mph he burns 7.7 gallons/hour. This means that he is running it considerable lower then that to get the 4 gallons an hour required. It would be quicker to drive and you would burn less gas in the process.
Can't really compare it to the airlines because when full they would do much better FE wise then that. Although the hassle factor is big negative with the airlines. YMMV
I agree -- "sharing a ride" with other passengers is more efficient.
Where my mileage varies is that driveable route -- the 250-300 mile range, or the "Fly out and Drive back". It would eliminate a 104-mile round-trip in my own vehicle to the airport (~34-35mpg) and a rental at an average of ~26-28 mpg. Plus, going "as the crow flies" has to cut off some distance, which may be lost in the climb/descent, headwinds -- dunno.
Honestly, it's a pipe-dream to fly myself to the required location. I've half-seriously joked about it the last 7 years. But, after I posted last evening, I realized that it's selfish, really -- spawned from the frustration of delays and long layovers (which I had just experienced). No bathroom and no "multi-tasking" would make the job no more efficient or convenient. I long to take to the skies, but of course, it's not an affordable hobby for me at this time. I'll leave it to the professionals to handle those ILS approaches and crosswind landings.
Welp, there's always the simulator
RH77
__________________ If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called research ― Albert Einstein
This guy is BURNING fuel in order to set an efficiency record.
Does anyone see the contradiction in terms?
That's what kills me about the hypermiling, not so much what this pilot is doing but the whole competition aspect... What good is it to get however great fuel economy when you have to go out of your way to show it?
Is that really what hypermiling is, doesn't matter so long you got the best economy, that you had to fly around the world to get it? It's all the same in a car, do we take a detour to get better mpg even if doing so actually burns MORE fuel than having took the shortest route?
That is, I can drive my bmw on $10 a week and get 17-20mpg, or I can force it to 25-30mpg and spend like $40 on fuel in that same week, which one's it going to be?
I mean it just don't make no sense, if this is what hypermiling is all about then it completely destroys the purpose of fuel conservation.
No, hypermiling isn't generally about wasting fuel to get "good numbers".
Let's keep this pilot in in context, though: one of his stated goals is "to draw attention to the record category itself and help focus competitive energy throughout the aeronautical industry toward improving airplane efficiency.”"
So, yes, he's wasting fuel to raise awareness about how to save fuel.
Whether this is done by pilots or car drivers in a fuel efficiency competition, if the net effect is they raise awareness and cause more people to become interested in the topic (and decide to learn the skills to apply in normal use), it could be argued it's a good thing overall.
what gets me is that according to a friend of mine who works for a big airline, whenever airline pilots get jerked around by the executives of the airline, they slow the plane down, and that with big airplanes it takes more fuel to go slower! (more of the energy is used to keep it up) doing this costs the airline alot of money in wages and fuel I think he said $3,000 per hour just for the fuel, but that is sounding low.
they can do this of course by just saying that they think the slower speed is safer, and safty trumps it all.
Porthos - '96 Chevrolet Cavalier 90 day: 31.3 mpg (US)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 8307c4
if this is what hypermiling is all about then it completely destroys the purpose of fuel conservation.
What *is* the purpose of fuel conservation? I went to the home page, clicked "here", and reread the "What is ecomodding?" thread. I vote for reason number five, "the sheer sport of it! ...an ongoing game". For me, it's a fun, challenging hobby, involving chemistry, mechanics, electronics, aerodynamics, and more. No altruism here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 8307c4
I can drive my bmw on $10 a week and get 17-20mpg, or I can force it to 25-30mpg and spend like $40 on fuel in that same week, which one's it going to be?
Yep, I've seen posts where folks take longer routes to get better mileage. And folks use gas doing experiments. Perhaps to help other increase their FE, perhaps out of curiosity. I use my wife's less FE car to run errands, and keep my hobby on track. To each their own.
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Just imagine sitting in front of your TV for 13 hours without getting out of the chair.
