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GPH during a climb

Asked by: 2472 views Private Pilot

I’m trying to figure out the fuel consumption during a climb for a C- 150. The max rate climb chart in the owners manual says 0.6 gal used at sea level, is that what’s used on the ground? Also it says 1.6 gal at 5,000ft and 2.8 gal at 10,000ft, are these the amount of fuel it takes to get to these altitudes?

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2 Answers

  1. Best Answer


    Mark Kolber on Jan 05, 2021

    The table is showing you how much fuel you can expect to use climbing at Vy from sea level to your cruise altitude. It’s for planning purposes.

    The 0.6 is the estimated fuel use for startup, preflight checks, and taxi. It’s an average. Obviously you will use less fuel if your airplane is tied down 100 yards from the departure end of the runway than if you are hangared 3 miles from it.

    The climb fuel use numbers are totals from sea level. So, for example, the table I am looking at says climbing from sea level to 6,000′ will use 1.6 gallons. But if your airport elevation is 1,000′ MSL, I don’t need to “climb” to that altitude, so I would subtract the 0.2 gal 1,000′ number from the 1.6.

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  2. KDS on Jan 06, 2021

    What Mark wrote is 100% accurate. I would just like to add that those numbers are best case conditions. The typical rental airplane is not going to perform like that perfect airplane in the book. Apply conservative fudge factors when doing planning.

    When you do plan that cross-country flight, make sure you stick around long enough after the flight to see how much fuel the airplane takes. Compare that to your book numbers to get an idea of what future fudge factor to use.

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