On Sun, May 10, 2009 at 10:16 PM, Dennis Haverlah
<clouduster@austin.rr.com> wrote:
My neighbor and I both have RV-7A's. He has a carborated Lycoming 360
with "E" Mags and claims about 185+ hp with a fixed pitch metal prop.
He told me the "E" mags really improved fuel efficiency and added
noticeable horsepower. I have a 4 port Renesis with Tracy's RD-1C and
Catto 76/88 composite prop. We have similar performance on take-off
and climb - we will be doing some high altitude speed runs in the
future.
Saturday we flew in formation from Austin (40XS) to
south west of Dallas (0TX1) and returned. Total flight mileage was
about 140 miles each way. We filled both tanks on each aircraft to the
filler neck before and after the flight. He uses 100 LL avgas and I
use regular car gas. At 0TX1 I had to execute a go-around because 3
aircraft were taxing on the runway and did not clear it for landing
aircraft!. My neighbor was able to land without going around. I
estimate I used about 0.7 gal for the go-around. I leaned the Renesis
some but did not try to run as lean as possible.
When we got home we checked the fuel meters on the mogas and 100 LL
fuel storage systems using a 5 gallon fuel container and made sure both
fuel delivery meters measured the same.
After the flight I required 18.7 gal. -0 .7 for the go-around = 18.0
gal. of mogas. My neighbor's aircraft took 19.0 gallons of 100 LL.
My fuel costs $2.00/gal or $36.00 His fuel costs $3.50/gal or $65.00.
The Mazda Technical Papers on the Renesis indicate a significant
improvement in fuel efficiency over earlier RX-7 versions.. I
believe this flight proves it - the Renesis beat a Lycoming with fuel
efficient "E" mags.
Dennis Haverlah