Passenger Weight Limit in Cherokee

SoCalPilot88

Pre-takeoff checklist
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SoCalPilot88
My friend weighs 370 lbs and is very enthusiastic about flying with me. I have done the W&B for the Cherokee 180 and we are fine if he sits in the back seat.

My next step is to have him sit in the plane and do a fit check. My concern lies with the structural integrity of the following: Step, Flap, Wing, Seat and Floor Boards.

Of course the POH is useless in this regard. Does anyone have experience with heavy/obese passengers in Cherokees? I would hate to have the skin oil-can or hear something snap when all 370 lbs is applied to a few square inches from one of his feet during ingress/egress.
 
My friend weighs 370 lbs and is very enthusiastic about flying with me. I have done the W&B for the Cherokee 180 and we are fine if he sits in the back seat.

My next step is to have him sit in the plane and do a fit check. My concern lies with the structural integrity of the following: Step, Flap, Wing, Seat and Floor Boards.

Of course the POH is useless in this regard. Does anyone have experience with heavy/obese passengers in Cherokees? I would hate to have the skin oil-can or hear something snap when all 370 lbs is applied to a few square inches from one of his feet during ingress/egress.

I would be careful of the flap. Not sure how robust those particular latches are. As to the rest, I personally wouldn't be concerned about it.
 
What Greg said. Keep him off the flap (isn't that a no-step area anyway?) and the rest shouldn't be a problem.
 
What Greg said. Keep him off the flap (isn't that a no-step area anyway?) and the rest shouldn't be a problem.

The flap is a step when the flap is retracted. The wing step area may oilcan if the heavy person is not careful. Depends on the particular aircraft and the use it has seen.
 
I know how my wing walk area flexes when I walk on it. I also have a friend that is in the 350# range. I am a not in a hurry to see how it would react to his weight. My W&B also only works if he is in a rear seat.
 
Yes, what Clark said. The right flap on a PA-28 passes over a roller lock to make it safe to step on when in the retracted position.
 
I'm 285-295lbs and I have zero issue.

I have carried a package that weighed 60 lbs that needed to be carried from the ground to inside the plane (would not fit in the baggage area) had zero issues walking on the wing.
I don't use the flap as a step though.

Tell your friend to wear wide shoes to disperse his weight as favorably as possible.
 
The wing walk is a weak spot on these. The wing must be removed to replace it. Its a reinforced piece of aluminum under the right wing that allows you to walk on the wing. In the 3 years I have been in our club, 2/3 of our cherokees have had wing walk replacements.

I'm also really having trouble envisioning a 370lb person wedging himself into the backseat of a cherokee. The back seat can probably handle the weight just fine, but watch how he braces himself as he is wedging in there. The front seat slid and tilted forward can't take much weight, if he happens to lose his balance while boarding, I can see him falling on the front seat and breaking it.

If the W&B works I don't see anything too unsafe about it, but to me this would be more trouble than its worth.
 
getting out may also be a challenge. It's amusing watching people squirm their way out of my mooney.
 
Have you given much thought to a 370 lb. passenger in a back seat getting out in an emergency?
 
Better to put the big guy in the front seat and put something heavy in the back seat or aft of the back seat to balance the load. Better yet, make some skinny friends. :)
 
Better to put the big guy in the front seat and put something heavy in the back seat or aft of the back seat to balance the load. Better yet, make some skinny friends. :)

Do you really want someone that big between you and the only exit?
 
Do you really want someone that big between you and the only exit?

I'd much rather have my passenger nearer the exit than I. Part of my briefing for new passengers is to show them how the door works, that they can kick out the windows in the case of an emergency, and is case of said emergency they are to get out of the aircraft as quickly as possible and under no circumstances worry about me. My passengers are my responsibility, one I take very seriously.
 
I'd much rather have my passenger nearer the exit than I. Part of my briefing for new passengers is to show them how the door works, that they can kick out the windows in the case of an emergency, and is case of said emergency they are to get out of the aircraft as quickly as possible and under no circumstances worry about me. My passengers are my responsibility, one I take very seriously.

Leaving the dunker from an inside seat (while wearing blackout goggles) I drove the large person out the exit with the top of my head. Moral of the story is that if the large person is going to be in my way then they aren't going.
 
Better to put the big guy in the front seat and put something heavy in the back seat or aft of the back seat to balance the load. Better yet, make some skinny friends. :)
Someone that big in the right seat might make it impossible to reach the pitch trim (the one in the base of the flap handle in the later PA28's, not the overhead handle in the earlier Cherokees), rudder trip, flap handle, and/or brake handle. Best to find all that out before engine start.
 
I'd much rather have my passenger nearer the exit than I. Part of my briefing for new passengers is to show them how the door works, that they can kick out the windows in the case of an emergency, and is case of said emergency they are to get out of the aircraft as quickly as possible and under no circumstances worry about me. My passengers are my responsibility, one I take very seriously.

I take it seriously too. I'd consider removing the front passenger seat.
 
Tell him if he wants to fly to flap his arms. If he does it long enough he will either liftoff or reach a human weight at which point take him flying in your Cherokee.
 
Tell him if he wants to fly to flap his arms. If he does it long enough he will either liftoff or reach a human weight at which point take him flying in your Cherokee.

How did I know Greg would have an opinion? :rofl:

Were you bullied by a fat kid?
 
How did I know Greg would have an opinion? :rofl:

Were you bullied by a fat kid?
No. I took someone around the same size in a 180 hp C-172. I know it can be done but someone that big climbing up and into a Cherokee. It just ain't pretty, these things are made of tin, 40 years ago, under the assumption adults weighed 150 lbs. I say do the guy a favor and tell him you will fly him if he can hit 250. Wait until the GA fleet is required to become ADA compliant, and we thought ADS-B is expensive.:D
 
When I weighed ~250 pounds I felt more than one PA-28 step start to bend when I stepped on it.

I'd get your friend a stool of some kind to mount the airplane, or at least tell him to pull as much force on the fuselage handle as he can to keep from bending the step.

This step bending issue was a big motivator for me to lose weight!

If at all possible try to get him a flight in a C182. He's pretty big for a PA28.
 
If you do get him in the back seat how do you plan to get him out. I took a heavy individual in the front of an arrow ,and he snapped the plastic overhead trying to exit the aircraft.
 
If you do get him in the back seat how do you plan to get him out.

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