Climb and Cruise RPM

[spiro]

blueldr,

and you thought my claim of 102mph at 2350rpm with my 8042 prop and 8.50's on 5.8gph was bogus....

[djbaker]

Dick, I must admit that I can't climb at 1000 ft per minute. BUT I did fly at 146mph on the GPS yesterday and I couldn't see any wind up there. Then I thought, since this day is so good , I'd try to match the five hour 33gal record. I loaded up to full gross and went up for the ride. Two hours later I had three people yelling to take a leak, so I guess that record may never be matched or broken. But I did stay in a Holiday Inn last nite!

[djbaker]

Dick, I must admit that I can't climb at 1000 ft per minute. BUT I did fly at 146mph on the GPS yesterday and I couldn't see any wind up there. Then I thought, since this day is so good , I'd try to match the five hour 33gal record. I loaded up to full gross and went up for the ride. Two hours later I had three people yelling to take a leak, so I guess that record may never be matched or broken. But I did stay in a Holiday Inn last nite!!!

[N2865C]

I regularly climb at 1000 fpm at sea level. I like it and Ill be damned if I am going to send my VSI in for overhaul.
jc

[blueldr]

The next time you get a 146 MPH ground speed, Turn 90 degrees left, stabilize the ground speed and log it. then do the same thing two more times and find an average. I'll bet it will be something considerably short of 146 unless you have the wick turned up to where the chimney is smoking like hell.

[djbaker]

Blldr, I said I couldn;t "see" a tailwind. I actually had a 35 mph tailwind. Just wanted to get in on the tall tales. That makes me one of the slowest planes on this website.

[GAHorn]

The endurance record for a 170 category airplane was set with a B-model (presently owned by a member in Tomball, TX) that set the record when it was on floats ...by FILLING THE FLOATS WITH FUEL!! ....and flying 'til dry tanks.
I have no idea how it ever got airborne but I suspect it was off a dolly...not the water! I used to own the paperwork on the airplane but sent it to it's new owner.

[Dave Clark]

I suspect the floats were not "filled" with fuel but had some sort of tankage built into them right? What do you suppose the gross weight would be with a couple of floats totally filled with fuel?

BTW some aircraft are range limited due to the amount of oil consumption and/or leakage and oil tank capacity. I suspect there might be some 170's out there with Continentals that are like that George......HE HE

(Lycoming now burning 1 qt in 12 hrs.) And still running, for now.

[GAHorn]

The airlane was on an "experimental" certificate during the flight, performed under "aeronautique" rules. (no kidding)
Usually endurance flights also include a method of replenishing oil during the test. A Cessna 172 once held a record of 28 days aloft with a O-300 Continental with no oil consumption problems. A plaque on the wall at VGT (No. Las Vegas Apt) tells of it. No Lycomings mentioned.
(Previous record was held by a Curtiss Robin with a Curtiss Challenger engine (24 days) but they changed the oil and spark plugs IN FLIGHT! (twice)
Trivia question: How did they do that?

[AR Dave]

Rivas,
Thanks for posting your data! I've had members send me private emails, with exceptional data, for fear of being tongue lashed on this forum. I love to read about different 170's performance data and compare it to mine.
I was taught to fly at 2350 rpm's and flew that way for years until this forum persuaded me to fly 2450, sometimes more. My prop is an 8043, 8.50's tires, & the papers read about 1370 lbs.. Anyway at 2350 I always got about 6.0 to 6.5 gph also, it's up to about 7.8 gph now that I fly at 2450+. At 2450 rpm's my wife and I have flown 4 hrs, then filled up with 30 gals, that still leaves 1 hr. Of course I'd cut back to 2300 to make it another 1.5 hrs if needed.
I climb at 1000 fpm alone (full tanks) or with Joe (not full tanks) or with the kids. In May, with full tanks, Randal, his son, & I, we climbed continously at 750 fpm, couldn't do much better than that.
But I can only get about 100 mph at 2450 rpm's. I'm going to get a new paint job and Bartone's to improve my speed shortly though. Joe, this time I used my paint money for a M4030SU Kabota. I'll have that Petit Jean grass strip in next spring!

[FredM]

I believe the Curtis Robin had a catwalk built onto the side of the plane.
My question is did the pilot sign that one off himself as preventive maint or did he have a mechanic along for the ride.

[GAHorn]

VERY GOOD, Fred!
Yes, he had a mechanic along for the ride (and to keep things going while the pilot slept). They climbed up to 12,000 feet and shut the engine off, drained the oil and poured in new (bet THAT was interesting!) and restarted before running out of altitude. (But this was when they still oiled dirt roads and the EPA hadn't been invented yet.)
Same procedure was used for the spark plugs AND greasing the exposed valve rocker arms. (Pretty brave mechanic, no? Like Ginger Rogers, HE's the one who deserved the recognition in my view!)

[Curtis Brown]

The world flight endurance record for airplanes was set by two brothers Fred and Al Key in Meridian, Mississippi in the mid 30's. They accomplished many feats in other to do it. Amoung them air to air refueling. They were both pilots and Fred did the catwalk thing. I worked for Fred when I was young at his FBO at Key Field (MEI). He had many stories to tell as you can imagine. Frankly, the way I recall Fred telling it, they changed oil and plugs with the engine running. Twice a day they had to rendezvous with the other Curtis Robins for refueling. How they found each other in all kinds of weather imazes me. They must have had some luck at times. Food was sent down in a bucket when they refueled and Fred said "he has never eaten such good eat ever since". Everyone wanted to help in someway and support the local boys, restaurants and friends alike.
Anyway, it has been a long time since I have listened to Fred and Al's stories. That was back in the 60's. But there is a book about it. I think the names is " A Flight to Remember".

[N1478D]

Rivas,
Thanks for posting your data! I've had members send me private emails, with exceptional data, for fear of being tongue lashed on this forum. I love to read about different 170's performance data and compare it to mine.
I was taught to fly at 2350 rpm's and flew that way for years until this forum persuaded me to fly 2450, sometimes more. My prop is an 8043, 8.50's tires, & the papers read about 1370 lbs.. Anyway at 2350 I always got about 6.0 to 6.5 gph also, it's up to about 7.8 gph now that I fly at 2450+. At 2450 rpm's my wife and I have flown 4 hrs, then filled up with 30 gals, that still leaves 1 hr. Of course I'd cut back to 2300 to make it another 1.5 hrs if needed.
I climb at 1000 fpm alone (full tanks) or with Joe (not full tanks) or with the kids. In May, with full tanks, Randal, his son, & I, we climbed continously at 750 fpm, couldn't do much better than that.
But I can only get about 100 mph at 2450 rpm's. I'm going to get a new paint job and Bartone's to improve my speed shortly though. Joe, this time I used my paint money for a M4030SU Kabota. I'll have that Petit Jean grass strip in next spring!

Hope you can do it without disturbing those lightning bugs! Bet you are having fun with the Kabota.

[GAHorn]

That's an interesting version, Curtis. I retold it as it was given to me by the current owner of one of the participating Robins. (John Bowden lives about 20 mins from me.)
The airplane is now all bright red, painted as Texaco once had it. It's currently flying with a W-670 on it, but the Challenger engine is Zero STOH and sitting in a crate. I helped install a cylinder on it last year. Great looking airplane! (But clearly a 170 is light-years advanced in design.)
Another trivia question: How did Curtiss make a 6-cylinder radial? (Radials have to be odd-numbered.)