cwo4ret
10-07-2008, 12:20 AM
Shoddy Aircraft Performance
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For you experienced pilots this is probably a NO BRAINER, but it might be an eye opener for some of the new guys like it was for me.
I have a Colt with an 0-235 that just did not have the stuff to preform like the charts in the manual said. IE, take off, landing, climb. I would figure the charts every way I could think of, but could never get my Colt anywhere near the ball park of what it said when adding GW , DA , Temp, Wind, and all the other good stuff.
Then the light came on and I had a revelation.
Durning my last Annual I had them do a new weight and balance, the last one was when it rolled out of the factory 55 years ago. Guess what? The empty weight of 950 wasn't 950 any more. It was now 1141. Holly Jumping Beans, I have been flying way over gross weight every take off and landing, no wonder I couldn't hit the mark.
So now, doing the figures with an all new updated Weight & Balance, I'm back in the ball park again. It is amazing how much that extra 100 pounds will affect performance.
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For you experienced pilots this is probably a NO BRAINER, but it might be an eye opener for some of the new guys like it was for me.
I have a Colt with an 0-235 that just did not have the stuff to preform like the charts in the manual said. IE, take off, landing, climb. I would figure the charts every way I could think of, but could never get my Colt anywhere near the ball park of what it said when adding GW , DA , Temp, Wind, and all the other good stuff.
Then the light came on and I had a revelation.
Durning my last Annual I had them do a new weight and balance, the last one was when it rolled out of the factory 55 years ago. Guess what? The empty weight of 950 wasn't 950 any more. It was now 1141. Holly Jumping Beans, I have been flying way over gross weight every take off and landing, no wonder I couldn't hit the mark.
So now, doing the figures with an all new updated Weight & Balance, I'm back in the ball park again. It is amazing how much that extra 100 pounds will affect performance.