Act I
Pair a Mooney M20 airframe with a 200 hp engine and you have a great cross country machine. Our pilot plans to take advantage it by launching on a 1300 nm adventure at 0830. The weather is clear all day and all the way so lack of an instrument ticket is not a problem.
Act II
We next see our Mooney owner 900 nm later in Tonopah, NV, preparing to launch on his last leg at 2000. Hold on a minute. Even if he is only making 150 knots over ground (1100 / 150 = 7.3) and stopped once before (1 hour for fuel and a meal), it should not have taken 11 and a half hours