Dave Elliot and I just got back from our second trip to the east coast of
France (Lake Geneva) yesterday. GK Whip went very well. On the way out we
cruised at half throttle, 5,100 rpm and about 120 kts, burning 17 litres an
hour. Mostly around 3 or 4000 feet. We flew direct from Tatenhill, near
Derby, to Troyes, 80 miles SE of Paris. 3 hrs 20 min. tacho and 57 litres
to top up. Tank holds 75 litres plus. From Troyes we flew over Dijon then
climbed up to 6,500 to cross the Jura mountains then drop down over lake
Geneva to Annemasse on the far side of the lake. There was a lot of haze
over the lake, even late afternoon. Very pretty place seen from 6000 feet.
The following morning we were socked in with low cloud, which eventually
allowed a tentative attempt at escape mid afternoon. A climb to 3,500
revealed the mountain tops so I went back over the top of the Col de la
Faucille, north of the Geneva airport. The other side of the hill was gin
clear. Dave stayed in Annemasse with a friend and I went back to Dijon for
a weeks education at a certain well known aircraft factory. Fascinating.
Dave caught the train to Dijon to avoid the risk of being stuck again and
reported thick fog coming down the valley from Geneva.
The trip back to England was made at around 3,500 or 4000 ft cruising at
5,300 rpm and 125 kts. Haven't calculated the fuel burn yet.
Oil temp ran at around 98 deg C, CHT 110 deg C. with an outside air temp of
about 25 deg.
As is so often the case, half way across the channel the low cloud started
and made the rest of the trip a scud run. Still, GPS, Navaid's super little
autopilot and helpful air traffic controllers eased the way and we made the
trip from Troyes in 3 hours.
Graham
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