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Your suspicions are well founded. Buy don?t build. In recent months I have seen several 150/150s advertised in the $35,000 range. By the time that you buy the STC, engine, prop, spinner, long range tanks and get it all installed on your airframe you will be well above that figure.

You might check out the recent post in "Everything Else" as the club is selling their salvage 150 that has the Avcon conversion and engine, and it sounds...the right paperwork. Could be one way to put one together on the cheap.

Sorry I didn?t answer your cruise question.

I get about 128 MPH on 8.4 GPH at 3500? MSL (3000 MSL is just 100? to 200? AGL where I fly).

My best speed comes at about 12,500? DA ? 142 MPH on 7/8 GPH. At 17,800? DA (service ceiling) the speed is back down to about 130 MPH.

Hey Wayne, You may have included this in the past, I don't recall, but what sort of RPM are you turning at those fuel burn rates?

I assume your Mph figures are statue yes? For those who think in Nautical here's the conversion:
(.869 factor)
111 KTS on 8.4 GPH at 3500? MSL
123 KTS on 7/8 GPH at 12,500?
112 KTS at service ceiling of 17,800'

The following are the figures for my old engine. I have not done the flight test with the new motor yet. The new engine seems to turn a little slower for the same fuel flow rate. This fall I will fly a new set of test and collect new performance data for the plane with the new engine.

-DA-----RPM----%Power*---GPH----TAS-MPH/Knts
3500----2450-----75------8.4------128/111
12,500--2750-----69------7.8------142/123
17,800--2500-----58------6.8------130/113

*% Power is based on the Lycoming Fuel Flow vs Power Tables for an 0-320-E2D at best power leaning. (The SportHawk is not equipped with a manifold pressure gage.)

Wow Wayne....who needs a stinking Cardinal to go fast. I never saw those speeds in the AFM...albeit, with the cruise prop, I never even saw 2700 RPM either.

I haven't tried the Card at 2700 RPM other than initial climb and usually only cruise at 2400 or so. Maybe on the trip "one week from today" where I will be at 13,500, I will have the opportunity to let the reigns out a bit. But I am still only seeing 5-10 MPH better than you and the Sporthawk. I guess on the other side....our investment is about the same so that is some consolation....Huh??? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

There are so many variables it's no wonder each airplane is different. N150DM is a farily clean bird and will do spot on 150 mph at full throttle, level flight, with wheel pants, down low (2500 feet) and she has to turn about 2850 rpm to achieve that speed (only done for test purposes, not to be repeated often). The prop is a McCauley 74" with 57" pitch. Running at redline, 2700 rpm, the speed is an honest 140 mph and the fuel flow is somewhere around 10 gph...more than the speed is worth to me. Running 2600 rpm the speed is around 130-135 and fuel flow drops to about 8 gph. 2400 rpm yields an easy 120 mph with the fuel burn just under 8 gph. All of my times are tach time, not by the clock. No Hobbs in Delta Mike. With a cruise prop I don't know what would happen, but the pitch is coarse enough for me now and I wouldn't want to lose any climb ability, which is a valuable asset in our mountainous country. Performance wise, I have found it entertaining to pass up or leave behind the unsuspecting 172 driver but I will admit I do envy him/her the comfort of the larger airplane. Yesterday I helped a friend reinstall the wings on his Cessna 175 Skylark which he has converted to a taildragger with a Continental 0-470 engine. Those mods along with a whole new panel full of high zoot avionics makes for a VERY nice airplane. I'm anxious to see it fly and find out what the performance figures shake out to. The one thing I'm sure most of us would not trade him though will be...yeah, you guessed it...the fuel burn <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Dan,
I had never done an all out speed test with the SportHawk, until this morning.

At 3500? MSL, 25?C for a DA of 5150? she indicated 140 MPH and trued 151 MPH. The prop was turning 2950 RPM and the fuel flow was 13.2 GPH at 100? ROP.
(I couldn?t fly at 2500? MSL because of all the dust and dirt, my field elevation is 2803? MSL

Looks like our planes will do about the same on the big end b my cruise at 75% power (8.4 GPH) is 130 to 135 MPH. It sounds like that your plane may be a little faster than mine. My prop is a good bit flatter than yours but I need the power to fly out of mountain strips.

I am on the trail of the 150/150 manual that Carl Chitwood mentioned. As you stated there are so many variables that it will most likely not mean a lot for my plane but it still would make interesting reading. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Dan's is a tail dragger Wayne...so there is at least a couple of knots there.

Interesting figures Wayne. Wish I had one o' them fuel flow meters but just never felt flush enough to spring for it. 13+ gph at 150 mph. That sounds about right...it just simply take about a certain amount of gas to push a given shape through the air at a given speed. I'd expect mine to do about the same. All in all they're a spirited performer and an all around good time to fly huh? HEY JEFF, when cruising at 150 mph what's your fuel flow with the Cardinal? It's a slick airplane (as Cessnas go) and you have the CS prop. I have friends with everything from warbirds to super slick experimentals. The RVs routinely cruise up towards 200 mph on around 8 gph. One of several trade offs for that is the fact that when those people travel they take a light coat, share a tooth brush, and pack their Visa card....those are all the items they have room for!