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Hello again, What are all you getting average for cruise speeds in your 150's single person and fully loaded? in the couple 152's I have flown avarage 100 knots with me, and 105 knots last weekend, and with two people and full fuel, 90 to 95 knots indicated. Just curious?

At max gross weight and 65% power, I usually see a Calibrated TAS of around 138 to 143 mph (call it 115-120 knots) trimmed out with the cowl flaps closed in my 150 Heavy. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

My 1977 150M was a 90 knot airplane.

My 1976 172M is a 105-110 knot airplane.

The cruise speeds on 150DM are probably of no interest to you, but standard 150s I've flown along with seem to average around 115 mph generally speaking. Airspeed indicators are frequently off by a good 10 mph, and more often than not read high. One practical way to know how accurate your ASI is would be to use a GPS on as calm a day as possible and fly at given speeds in various directions, noting any differences between the GPS and ASI. If it's a calm day the only material differences should be the error in the ASI at low altitude. My ASI has always been as close to accurate as any I've seen, as is the tach. It's good to know what these two gauges are really telling you for your individual airplane.

Thanks Folks, so basically no difference between the two 150/152, I am budgeting 25,000 max for a plane and will look at the 150's also.

On our Clinton trip a few years back it seemed like our flight of 5 averaged in the 90-95 knot category if my memory is correct. However, I have recently seen several 152 owners bragging of 115 knots speeds. Makes me feel like I wasted money on the 177, but ASI's are not the only thing that registers high at times.

One thing I have discovered is if you make the calculation for TAS and calibrate that, my GPS and ASI are typically very much in agreement. I was amazed at how much of a difference it is. On my card, I routinely show 120-125 mph, but TAS is in the 143-145. After this I apply the "correction" and find my bird makes book at about 137-142 on nearly every flight.

Accuracy counts. Use this calculator to determine your TRUE airspeed: http://reacomp.com/true_airspeed/index.html
I'm at 98 kts in my 150M.

Eric, neat airspeed calculator. Now all I need is WiFi and my laptop in the airplane

Hey Jeff...I accompanied a buddy up to Olympia recently, (twice, once to take his airplane up for some work, then to retrieve it), and pushed 150DM hard so he wouldn't need to back off his Cherokee 180 too much. At 6500/5500 msl our TAS was averaging about 140+ mph (indicated airspeed was less of course, but our GS and TAS agreed). Unfortunately DM burns 10 gph at those speeds so I seldom run it there, although all the engine temps are OK. What does the Cardinal burn at similar cruise speeds? If I back off 100 rpm my fuel burn falls to 8 gph, which is what I always use for flight planning. The speed reduction is in the 5 mph neighborhood. At today's prices, 2 gph for an extra 5 mph isn't so attractive. By the way, we found Thun Field, just south of Seattle to be an Excellent place for Fuel and Eats, in case you get up into that area.

Hi Dan,

Let's see, this may be a duplicate post as I am sure I hit submit, but it never showed....so.

I just completed a trip to RBG. Averaged about 8.75 running 21/2350 at 7500-8500' (with occassional excursions to 9500..quite an updraft). I flight plan for 10, but typically see better than that by running around 65-70% power at cruise levels. I too see little speed difference when putting the whip to it, and it runs smooth in this range.

Speed...TAS/Corrected was something like 138-142 going and returning...ground speed however was a different matter with strong winds. I had about 128-130 MPH going, and 155-160 returning. Bonanza...I don't need no schtinking Bonanza. Well almost anyway. I think I found a sweet spot at 9500 on the east bound trip that really was nice. Help it until 25 miles out, then tipped her over and throttled back a touch maintaining top of the green all the way down.