(Shemp McGurk) wrote in message . com...
The government routinely publishes a list of miles-per-gallon
consumption ratings for all cars sold in the U.S.

Does anyone know whether such a list exists for aviation?

Miles per gallon measurements don't work that well for airplanes.
After all, there's factors like the plane's headwind or tailwind
speed, and that airplane engines run at higher power output ratings in
cruise than do cars. Flying with a headwind is like driving west at
70 MPH on a road that's moving east at 30 MPH. You're only doing 40
MPH relative to the trees on the side of the road. With a tailwind
it's opposite. And, most of the time you're dealing with one or the
other.

A car is rarely run over 40%-50% of potential power output. While
higher power's useful for hills, or for passing, the average RPM is
much much lower than the max. Airplanes, though, typically run
60%-80% of full power in the cruise phase of flight, the longest phase
by far. So, you're comparing apples and oranges here.

For these and other reasons, airplanes are usually figured at
gallons/hour consumption.

-Malcolm Teas