So I finally took my first passengers this morning!
We were a total of 4 people in the airplane with atleast 60% of fuel, we were still within the envelope for weight and balance.
I was still doubting if the airplane was going to be too hard to control, or too heavy, so I decided to request a couple of touch and goes with the tower.
I did a pre-flight of the airplane by myself, and after completing it. I decided to take my passengers with me and gave them a pre-flight brief, followed the checklist and before I even knew we were already taxiing towards the runway. I did the run-up, everything seemed perfect, then got cleared for take-off.
I put a notch of flaps, went full power, and took off at the indicated speed by the checklist. Then, the airplane just lifted itself off the ground. I tried to climb very slowly, since the airplane was at its full capacity. And honestly, it climbed perfectly fine without any big issues. The stall horn did not even came up once during the take-off which I was obviously very happy about. I retracted the flaps, once we were about 300 feet.
Then, I remained on the pattern as directed by the tower and proceeded to do my first landing. I did the approach the same way I have always done it, and then just put 2 notch of flaps. I definitely did not want to go full flaps, and being full of people on board. And once again everything turned out perfectly fine, the airplane just kissed the ground the landing was smooth that I could hear my passengers saying. "Wow, that was beautiful"
Then, I proceeded to go full power again, and got airborne without any issues. Again, I climbed slowly, and I could definitely feel the difference with the weight, but it was not that bad, it felt just the same as when I used to take off on the Cessna 162 really close to its max gross.
Again, we remained in the pattern, I could feel the enjoyment in my passengers, even though they were not talking as much, since I explained that I wanted a sterile cabin during take off and landings. However, we cracked a couple of jokes here and there, but all of them were good jokes, like they were saying, "Wow, bro you are ready for the airlines! I was like "yeah, right" it is going to take a while to get there, but I will someday.
Then, we proceeded with the landing. Same approach, same procedure, and again the airplane just kissed the ground,very smooth and nice landing. I could honestly say that that the second landing has probably been one the best landings I have ever made.
Then the tower rushed me out the runway, since there was an Airbus A-320 from Jetblue, holding short at the runway.
We cleared off the runway, did my after flight checklist, then contacted ground and got cleared to taxi to the ramp. We taxied to the ramp, I shut-off the engine, secured the airplane and heard my passengers talking about how good everything was.
I still do not consider this my first flight somewhere else with passengers, since all we did was remain in the traffic pattern because I wanted to see how I was going to react to the extra weight that I was about to handle.
Honestly, I did not feel a big difference, and everything came out perfect, I just adjusted the airplane to the situation, and since we were within weight and balance, I did not feel as if it was a big deal with all of the extra weight.
I was honestly, kind of worried about the take offs the most, but with the 1 notch of flaps and the slow climb, it all came together for a great take off.
I was very careful about the turns, did them slowly, and the airplane turned just great.
Again, the landings were probably some of the best landings I have ever made, maybe because of the fact that I knew I had people depending on my knowledge. Therefore, I really did focused in make them great landings.
I would probably be flying with my friends again to our original destination, within the next month, and I will post about how that flight went soon.
Operating an airplane almost to its max gross, I think it just depends of the pilot and how he/she is able to operate the airplane by adjusting himself to the situation.
I believe, the key is to trust your abilities as a pilot, and know how to handle the airplane with the extra weight. If the airplane is within the weight and balance, then now I do not think there is any reason to worry about, as long as the pilot knows what he/ she is doing and is able to make some small adjustments specially during the take off and climb, then there should not be any reason to worry about, as long as of course you are able to safely fly the airplane.