Is it true that single propeller aircraft travel is more fuel efficient than ground travel?

An instructor at a ground school told me that it was.Is it true that single propeller aircraft travel is more fuel efficient than ground travel?
It depends on the aircraft and car involved. A really slow airplane, no. But if you have a decently fast plane, then yes it is more fuel efficient.





My Dad's plane burns five gallons per hour of flight, and it flies 196 MPH. So, that's 39.2 miles per gallon. So, depending on the car, you may have already beaten it. Plus you add to that the fact that you don't need to stop or follow winding roads, you can go straight there.Is it true that single propeller aircraft travel is more fuel efficient than ground travel?
What the hell kind of plane does your dad fly? Even a Velocity RG or an RV burn a little over 10 gph at that speed and those are pretty clean airplanes.





The plane I fly burns about 180 gph at cruise, so it's definitely less efficient. All depends on what you are comparing against.

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Not generally, there are several factors though. Even though a plane may only get 17 mpg (Assuming no wind) and a car gets 34 mpg, the plane might be able to travel half the distance since it can fly point to point making it exactly as fuel efficient as a car that would have to travel twice the distance. On a straight shot though, I would say that the car will generally be more efficient from a fuel standpoint. For that matter, most cars are actually more fuel efficient than riding a bicycle.


Check it out....





Assume that your average hippie gets 22 mpg on their Ford Fiesta. At 3.80 a gallon that works out to 86 cents per five miles. Riding a bicycle at 20 mph will cause you to burn about 40 calories per mile or 200 calories per five miles. So now you have to figure up the cost of 200 calories. If it's over 86 cents, then you're losing money. Oddly enough someone has already figured this up (thanks, Google!)





Canola Oil .07


Wheat Flour .07


Brown Sugar .10


Peanut Butter .17


Cornmeal .20


Donut .23


Butter .24


Pretzels .24


Dinner Roll .23


Smarties .24


Saltines .31


Milk .31


Potato Chips .33


Cheetos .37


Chocolate .38


Doritos .39


Gummy Bears .40


Chedder Cheese .40


Snickers .40


Beans .42


Eggs .50


Cooked Paste .54


Fruit loops .54


Cheeseburger .57


Yogurt .58


Ketchup .66


Corn Bran .68


Jelly Beans .75


Nuts .81


Avacado .99


Almonds 1.11


Bailey's Irish Cream 1.20


Green Peas 1.33


Onions 1.35


Apples 1.43


Powerbar 1.52


Bacon 1.65


Kiwi Fruit 1.93


Brocolli 1.93


Splenda 2.01


Honeydew 2.18


Apricots 2.19


Carrots 2.50


Grapes 2.55


Celery 3.11


Balsamic Viniger 3.14


Turkey 3.19


Peppers 3.23





Basically if you're eating anything in from Almonds down then you're losing money. This is further compounded by the new wave of hippies that are driving this Toyota Prius business and getting as much as 60 mpg. That reduces your cost of driving to 32 cents per 5 miles and the only way to save money is to eat Saltines...
With enough of a tailwind, absolutely.





Not many piston-powered airplanes are as efficient as a car. Only the tiny experiementals and ultralights might get close. A Mooney Acclaim is one of the more fuel-efficient ones out there and it gets about 17 mpg. However, some turboprops might get up there, especially when you calculate it per person.
It all depends on the airplane, and the car it's being compared to.





A typical Cessna might burn through 7-10 gallons per hour; and in that hour it might travel 125 miles. If you work out the miles per gallon, it's not that spectacular. 12-18 mpg. Most cars can beat that; but not all. However, if you consider the mpg of any car travelling at 125 mph, it will be FAR less than its rated MPG. My Corvette can run 30 mpg at 60mph, but at 100 it averages 17. At 125, it would be even less.





So you see... it really depends how you look at it. A Cessna probably is more efficient at its cruising speed than almost any car would be at that same speed. But, a car at a more reasonable speed (say 65 mph) would turn the tables on the plane.
Its comparable to any SUV, but you'll get there so much faster. Also aviation gasoline is more expensive than regular gas, and every 2000 hours or so your engine has to be torn down and rebuilt, and different airports have different fees like landing fees and parking fees that you have to pay, so if you add up all the costs, flying is not really cost effective. But we don't fly because its cheap, we do it because we love it.
Just to put my 2 cents in;





Planes are not cheap - they're convenient!