C177 PLT CONTINUES FLT INTO HEADWINDS; WITH LOW CEILINGS AHEAD; LANDS WITH 2 GALS OF FUEL REMAINING.

Narrative

TO GAIN PRACTICE I FILED IFR GLENDALE ARPT; AZ; TO MONTGOMERY ARPT; SAN DIEGO; CA; A DISTANCE OF 270 NM. MY TRUE AIRSPD WAS 120 KTS AND THE FORECAST HEADWIND WAS 30 KTS. WITH A PLANNED GND SPD OF 90 KTS THE ETA WAS 3 HRS. I HAD 5 HRS OF FUEL ON BOARD AND THE BRIEFING INDICATED VMC ALL THE WAY; SCATTERED CLOUDS AND VISIBILITY GREATER THAN 7 MI. THE ONLY HINT OF A PROB WAS A PLT RPT OF 50 KT HEADWINDS BTWN IMPERIAL AND SAN DIEGO. THE DISTANCE FROM IMPERIAL TO SAN DIEGO IS 86 NM. LESS THAN AN HR AT 90 KTS AND AN HR AND 26 MINS AT 60 KTS WHICH WOULD EQUATE TO A 70 KT HEADWIND WITH A TRUE AIRSPD OF 120 KTS. BUT; WHAT I DID NOT FIGURE WAS I WAS AT FULL THROTTLE AT 8000 FT TO GET 75 PERCENT PWR AND 120 KTS. I CROSSED IMPERIAL AT THE EXPECTED 2 HRS WITH EXPECTATIONS OF GETTING THE REMAINING 86 MI NO PROB. THE PROB WAS TO MAINTAIN ALT I HAD TO SACRIFICE AIRSPD OVER THE MOUNTAINS WITH THE MOUNTAIN WAVE. IN FACT I HAD TO SACRIFICE ALT WHEN I GOT TO MY MAX RATE OF CLB SPD ABOUT 70 KTS. I GOT A BLOCK ALT DOWN TO 7000 FT WHICH WAS MEA FOR THAT AREA. I WENT S OF COURSE FOR WX WITH THE APPROVAL OF ATC AND WHEN I WAS READY TO RETURN TO COURSE WAS ASSIGNED 280 DEGS TO INTERCEPT THE 076 DEG INBOUND TO MZB. WITH THE WINDS 290 DEGS AND 69 KTS AND MY 280 DEG HDG AT A TRUE AIRSPD OF 70 KTS MY GND SPD WAS 13 KTS AND MY TRACK WAS 200 DEGS. WHEN I COULD GET BACK TO CRUISE AT 120 KTS MY TRACK WAS 260 DEGS AND MY GND SPD WAS 58 KTS. WHEN I GOT ATIS I LEARNED THERE WAS A SPECIAL 400 OVCST AND 2 MI RAIN AT MONTGOMERY. THE SOCAL APCH WAS TELLING THE AIRLINERS THE FLTS GETTING INTO LINDBURGH WERE BREAKING OUT AT MINIMUMS. IT TOOK ME 2 HRS TO FLY 86 MI. I FLEW A TOTAL OF 4 HRS AND PUT 42 GALS OF FUEL INTO THE 50 GAL TANK AT MONTGOMERY AFTER HAVING TO FLY AN ILS APCH TO MINIMUMS. AT 7500 FT THE FUEL BURN CHARTS SHOW 9.7 GALS PER HR. I WAS THE ONLY ONE IN THE AIRPLANE SO IT WAS NOT NEAR MAX GROSS. DUE TO THE HEADWINDS; THE DOWNDRAFT; UNAVAILABILITY OF EXCESS PWR; I WAS UNABLE TO MAINTAIN MY FILED ALT OR FILED COURSE. I COULD NOT GO MUCH LOWER BECAUSE OF THE MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN. MY TAILWINDS ARE NEVER AS STRONG AS MY HEADWINDS BUT IF THEY WERE I COULD HAVE MADE THE 86 MI BACK TO IMPERIAL FROM SAN DIEGO IN ABOUT 30 MINS. I WILL BE MUCH MORE CONSCIOUS OF MY VULNERABILITY TO HEADWINDS AND MOUNTAIN WAVES WHEN FLYING AN ACFT REQUIRING FULL THROTTLE TO MAINTAIN THE REQUIRED ALT.