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CTLSi Trip home from MN to CA


Jimhusky

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I am new to this Forum and to owning a Flight Design CTLSi, so I wanted to share my first trip with everyone. Before deciding to buy the CTLSi, I was checked out by Jim McCord at North Coast Air. So when I arrived in Stanton Sport Aviation, Stanton, MN to pickup my new baby, I had 8.1 hours PIC in CTLS. The weather and wind were favoring a flight home on Saturday, November 23, which given the distance and time of year seemed great.

My route was from Stanton (SYN) - Madison, SD (MDS)-Chamberlain, SD (9V9)-Hot Springs, SD (HSR)-Casper, WY (CRP)-SWEAT Intersection-Bear Lake County, ID (1U7)-Wells Municipal, NV (LWL)-Battle Mountain, NV (BAM)-Lovelock, NV (LOL)-then following Highway 80 through Reno, NV (RNO) to Blue Canyon, then direct Rancho Murieta, CA (RIU). The routing out of CPR was picked because that stage of the flight would be at over high terrain and mountains at night.

By following Highway 80, I had a way to let down over a know situation (highway), and through the Sierras there was the added benefit being in a valley to avoid more turbulent air. If anyone is wondering about LSA at night, I hold a Commercial SMEL, Instrument, Glider and a CFI, and have a current flight physical. My CTLSi has the night package on it too.

In my prior aircraft, an Aviat Husky, I had a rule not to cross the Sierras when the winds at 9,000 were more than 25 kts. While the Husky had substantial performance, it could not handle the Sierras in very high winds. The forecast over the Sierras was for 19 kts at 9,000, so knowing the CTLSi would be light at that stage with five hours and thirty minutes of fuel burned made me comfortable trying the Sierras.

My initial plan had been to make one stop at CPR, but Kent Johnson, the distributor at Stanton, suggested an intervening stop. I decided on 9V9. It only took 13.18 gallons after 2.9 hours of flight, so I knew the range was as expected.

The only real interesting part of the trip was coming up on the top of the pass on highway 80 west of Truckee, when on a couple of occasions it took full power to maintain altitude. At one point, I glanced down at the airspeed and was surprised to see TAS 104 knts and GS 144 kts, which told me the wind was a lot more than forecast. The good news is the ground speed of 144 kts got me across the mountains quickly. It was a great trip, and the CTLSi is everything I expected.

The following are the statistics on the flight:

Route GNS 796 Gas GPH Altitude Distance GS

Flight Time Gallons nm kts

SYN to 9V9 2.9 13.18 4.5 4,500 275 95

9V9 to CPR 3.3 15.00 4.5 4,500 316 96

CPR to RIU 6.5 24.00 3.7 10,500 734 113

Total 12.7 52.18 4.1 1,325 104

I am looking forward to getting to know other members of the Forum.

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Sounds like a great flight! I know you will enjoy the CTLSi. Do you have the ADS-B with that plane? If you are ever coming back over to Santa Rosa let me know, I'd like to see how the ADS-B works in the Santa Rosa area. I'd like to do the upgrade in my CTLS but only if it is going to show traffic reliably.

 

Jim McCord

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Welcome aboard!

 

4.1gph average fuel burn is pretty good. What RPM were you turning in cruise? There is some debate on whether the injected engine really lives up to its economy claims, so it's good to have another set of data to look at. So far I think only one other member has numbers to report on the new engine.

 

Why move from a Husky to a CTLSi? That seems like two very different airplanes, did your mission change?

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Jim, It has ADS-B, so I was getting weather for some of the trip. When I was in the middle of nowhere it showed "partial." I also saw one target on the screen during the whole trip, but I was flying during off hours away most big airports. I can't wait to use it around the area to see how it works. I'll let you know when I am going to be in your area. I really appreciated your checking me out and letting me fly your wonderful CTLS. Thank you, Jim

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Andy, I was trying to stay between 5,050 RPM and 5,100 RPM. At 4,500 it was showing an average GPH around 3.7 GPH and at 10,500 it was showing 3.3 GPH. I spilled some gas at CPR and I hadn't topped it off as fully at SYN as I did at 9V9, so I assume my burn was less than I am showing. Jim

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Everyone, I am looking forward to being part of this Forum and learning from everyone. I am off to a great start, because Ron Cassero, at Sonoma Jet Center, and Kent Johnson, at Stanton Sport Aviation did a wonderful job of getting me in my new CTLSi. It is an awesome airplane, which I am already really enjoying flying. Thank you for the nice welcome. Jim

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I am new to this Forum and to owning a Flight Design CTLSi, so I wanted to share my first trip with everyone. Before deciding to buy the CTLSi, I was checked out by Jim McCord at North Coast Air. So when I arrived in Stanton Sport Aviation, Stanton, MN to pickup my new baby, I had 8.1 hours PIC in CTLS. The weather and wind were favoring a flight home on Saturday, November 23, which given the distance and time of year seemed great.

My route was from Stanton (SYN) - Madison, SD (MDS)-Chamberlain, SD (9V9)-Hot Springs, SD (HSR)-Casper, WY (CRP)-SWEAT Intersection-Bear Lake County, ID (1U7)-Wells Municipal, NV (LWL)-Battle Mountain, NV (BAM)-Lovelock, NV (LOL)-then following Highway 80 through Reno, NV (RNO) to Blue Canyon, then direct Rancho Murieta, CA (RIU). The routing out of CPR was picked because that stage of the flight would be at over high terrain and mountains at night.

By following Highway 80, I had a way to let down over a know situation (highway), and through the Sierras there was the added benefit being in a valley to avoid more turbulent air. If anyone is wondering about LSA at night, I hold a Commercial SMEL, Instrument, Glider and a CFI, and have a current flight physical. My CTLSi has the night package on it too.

In my prior aircraft, an Aviat Husky, I had a rule not to cross the Sierras when the winds at 9,000 were more than 25 kts. While the Husky had substantial performance, it could not handle the Sierras in very high winds. The forecast over the Sierras was for 19 kts at 9,000, so knowing the CTLSi would be light at that stage with five hours and thirty minutes of fuel burned made me comfortable trying the Sierras.

My initial plan had been to make one stop at CPR, but Kent Johnson, the distributor at Stanton, suggested an intervening stop. I decided on 9V9. It only took 13.18 gallons after 2.9 hours of flight, so I knew the range was as expected.

The only real interesting part of the trip was coming up on the top of the pass on highway 80 west of Truckee, when on a couple of occasions it took full power to maintain altitude. At one point, I glanced down at the airspeed and was surprised to see TAS 104 knts and GS 144 kts, which told me the wind was a lot more than forecast. The good news is the ground speed of 144 kts got me across the mountains quickly. It was a great trip, and the CTLSi is everything I expected.

The following are the statistics on the flight:

Route GNS 796 Gas GPH Altitude Distance GS

Flight Time Gallons nm kts

SYN to 9V9 2.9 13.18 4.5 4,500 275 95

9V9 to CPR 3.3 15.00 4.5 4,500 316 96

CPR to RIU 6.5 24.00 3.7 10,500 734 113

Total 12.7 52.18 4.1 1,325 104

I am looking forward to getting to know other members of the Forum.

Jim, If I am reading your post correctly, you last leg was 734 miles and you used 24 gallons of fuel. Those are great numbers.

 

Welcome to the forum. You will find a wealth of information here and if you "search" the website you can catch up on a lot of info already passed along.

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