CGF crash

Bill Watson said:
At least one needs to be familiar with near gross, near rear CG operations.

Despite being fully prepared for it, I can still remember the first time I flew a Skyhawk with 4 people. A completely different airplane even within limits.

One good thing with my old 180hp Maule - 4 people and full fuel wasn't really an issue. Off load 10 gallons and you could even carry a decent amount of baggage, more if you moved it forward. Bad news was it was slow no matter what. Trade-offs
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Exactly, if you want to haul weight with low horsepower,mother trade off is speed. There is no free energy in airplanes.
 
steingar said:
That strip is 5000 feet long. A Skyhawk 100 lbs over gross could make it out of there just fine. They're tough things, made that way by their makers. If they just fell out of the sky from being 100 pounds over gross there'd be a lot more of them pancaking than actually do.

Like I said, if I took off from that strip in the dark of night and my engine took a dump I'd probably try and get back into the airport environment. The only places I could think of where I KNOW there's open fields of grass. Would I make it, and would I make it at night? Harder to see stuff in the cockpit, harder to fly in the first place.

Yeah, the pilot shouldn't have overloaded the airplane. Find me someone who's' flown a Skyhawk who hasn't.
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I also thought inexperience at night flight was a significant factor, along with not flying near gross.
It has been a while since I have been in to that airport but there is a golf course off the departure end. Tough to see at night.
It is a shame - The kids that climbed in that plane had no idea of the risks.
 
Jim_CAK said:
I also thought inexperience at night flight was a significant factor, along with not flying near gross.
It has been a while since I have been in to that airport but there is a golf course off the departure end. Tough to see at night.
It is a shame - The kids that climbed in that plane had no idea of the risks.
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4 seats means 4 people, just like a car, right?
 
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