Statistics, or Flying By the Numbers

I did some calculations and found that our airplane averages about 13 statute miles/gallon.  My car does a little better than that, but a lot of people drive SUV's and trucks that are not much better.

Our calculated speeds over the entire trip ranged from 167 to 186 statute miles per hour.  You can't do that in a car, not even in a BMW. Not for three hours or better.

We were a little slower when we had a headwind, and we never really got a tailwind to push us fast.  We were hitting 200 mph over the ground at times on the way back, but not consistently.

The entire trip was about 1100 statute miles each way.  To drive it in a car would have been (per Google) about 1230 miles each way, or 22 hours of behind-the-wheel time.

Our longest two legs on one tank of fuel, from Saginaw to Mackinac Island, plus Mackinac Island to Brainerd the next day, was a total distance of 560 nautical miles and took 55 gallons of fuel.  The Avidyne fuel totalizer was very accurate, showing 26.2 gallons left on board when we landed at Brainerd.  The analog gauges also appeared accurate most of the time and at the end of the flight, but occasionally one would be off. Then it would correct itself a few minutes later.

This means that you could think in terms of 600 mile "legs" with a margin of safety.  Frankly, however, I would rather stop every two and half to three hours for a bathroom break and to stretch my legs.  I do that when driving long distances too.

I used the "Lean Assist" once we reached cruise altitude (8000 on the way west, and 7000 eastbound), and I ran at about 62 per cent power while cruising.  I don't think we would get better speed unless we went up to about 75 percent power.  That would consume more gas.  This is however something to try and check on a future long distance flight. 

And, Marcia keeps careful navigation notes.  She can repeat back to you every single radio call we got from ATC.  She noted course changes, altitude levels, and frequency changes in the order received, in both directions.  Maybe the next stage is for her to handle the radios, just like the co-pilot (first officer) does in the commercial airlines.