I was looking for some small adventure, that would be inexpensive, to take my Zenith CH601 XLB on. I saw the recent thread about the guy who landed at 13 airports in one day, though I think he refueled along the way.
In order to do this cheaply I changed the plan - how many could I land at on a single fill up and still make it back to my home airport?
After much planning and calculating it seemed like 15 would be possible.
My engine is a Lycoming O-235-C1 and the plane holds 12 gallons a side, 24 total with 23 usable. I figured if I throttled back to between 2300 - 2400 rpm, and stayed down around 2500 feet for most of the flight I might make all 15.
Starting from Pine Mountain Lake (E45) I would then do - Mariposa, Madera, Chowchilla, Merced, Turlock, Modesto, New Jerusalem, Tracy, Stockton, Kingdon, Lodi, Franklin, Amador Westover, Calaveras, Columbia and back to Pine Mountain Lake.
All of the landings were touch and go's. I did not stop anywhere. Two were towered fields. Apparently my flight plan was solid as I made all 15 and landed with an hours reserve.
Total distance: 293 miles
Total Fuel consumed: 18.7 gallons
Total Flight time: 3.9 hours
Fuel remaining on landing: 5.5 gallons
Average fuel burn: 4.79 gallons per hour
This was fun and challenging. There was not a lot of time in between airports and most of them I had never been to before. It was a great way to spend a Friday morning!
