NC-AL-NC Cross Country Flight

[sonex293]

For the 4th of July this year, I decided to fly my J3300 powered Sonex from NC to AL to visit with Family. This is the first long cross-country trip since converting my Sonex to a taildragger. I was interested see what my numbers would be.

My Trip down was NC81 - PYG - KEOE - KGRD - KMLJ - KOPN - 82A - 71J
Total distance was 445nm (890nm total there and back)



I left early in the morning around 8AM and the flight down was pleasant until the last leg when it started getting hot and bumpy. Even so, it was still fun. Looking at the fuel bill and distance traveled, my average fuel burn was 5.3gph. One of the airports I stopped was out of gas (Newberry County), so I had to make a short hop to Greenwood County for fuel. Fuel prices were $5.04, $5.00 and $5.26 a gallon....not too bad. I ran 2900rpm, 4500ft, 136mph indicated (abt 143gs, 151true). I probably could have made it with only one stop, but decided to see how everything went this trip.

Georgia Power Plant Scherer near Juliette, GA


DC-3 / C-47 N28AA at Thomaston-Upson County Airport, GA (KOPN)


Early Morning in Ozark, AL (71J)


I reversed the route back leaving at 7AM. I started off at 5500ft altitude, but clouds brought me back down to about 3500ft for most of the way. On the way back I bumped up to 3000RPM and was seeing 145mph indicated, 161true. Fuel burn went up as well.

Lake Eufaula in the Early Morning July 9


This was a very enjoyable trip and the Sonex performed great. It's amazing how many people come out to look at the "new" airplane. All in all a fun trip.

A few more photos can be found here at https://picasaweb.google.com/sonex293/July2011VacationFlying?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPnhlNLinba_1AE&feat=directlink

I also visited the Naval Aviation Museum @ Pensacola, FL
https://picasaweb.google.com/sonex293/PensacolaNavalAviationMuseum?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCMDY5LWGqtSkjAE&feat=directlink

[N111YX]

Thanks for the details, Michael! Looks likes memorable trip....

[Sonex1517]

Great inspirational write up! Love it - keeps me going and I appreciate it!!!!