Hi Jeremy, and thanks for writing to me. I appreciate your thoroughness which which you are approaching this topic. W&B is too important to be ignored or taken lightly. Also your personal limit of 1 hour fuel reserve is conservative and good.
W&B is tricky in the Alon as in any other plane of the Ercoupe / Aircoupe family, and yet again, the figures make it all clear: Well, to put it simple: A certified gross weight is just that: The maximum weight allowed in that specific aircraft. Whereas 1034 pound is kind of on the high side and depends on the instruments installed (my Mooney M10 is 1016 lbs empty, 1450 lbs total gross), your calculation may well be correct. Thus, playing it strictly by the rules, the decision can only be a No-Go, if you discover that you are outside of the weight and / or balance envelope. No extrapolation, no estimates allowed. As you had discovered, the airplane still flies in case you are overloading it to some degree, which is due to some safety margin built in and inherent in the certification procedure (it does not suddenly develop the flight characteristics of a brick once you are a bit over total gross). However, you are for sure playing with the unknown, and are your own test pilot. Not a good role to be, as I think. Besides that, let something happen, and no insurance will cover you or your family. And it is simply illegal. I hope I don't "crush" your hopes for an Alon. They are beautiful planes, very easy to fly and a joy to have. But they are not people haulers, unfortunately. If you really want to know for sure, I suggest to have the airplane's weight checked again. Sometimes people forget to take things off the equipment list and the W&B tables (and sometimes they forget to add new stuff...). That way you know exactly what you are looking at. Any decent FBO can do that for you, and it should not be too expensive. In case you have wheel pants, remove them, they are heavy. That's what I did in my plane. Hope this helps, although it may not be the answer you had hoped for. But better to be safe than sorrow. Let me know how you decided. Best regards, and safe flying, Stefan Fanselow, CFIA, Tokyo, Japan Mooney M10 Cadet N9547V www.hpo.net/users/sfanselow/m10/ -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Date: Friday, June 30, 2000 11:00 AM Subject: [COUPERS] W+B >Hi all >I am very close to purchasing an Alon, but I am scratching my head about the >Weight and Balance. Is it true that 2 FAA standard adults plus full fuel >(worth only 3hrs plus 1hr reserve) will put you over weight with an empty >weight of 1034lbs? I keep doing it over and over and I don't see how this can >be true. I did a flight test with full fuel, me at 165lbs, the seller at >200lbs and we did slow flight, power on and off stalls and touch and goes. It >handled great, controllable throughout. I was hoping my wife could use it for >primary training, but that would be impossible without emptying all but an >hour's worth of fuel! I pray that I am I making a mistake somewhere because >I love the plane. Help! >Jeremy Constant >_________________________________________________________________________ __ _____ >To unsubscribe from this list please send mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >___________________________________________________________ >T O P I C A The Email You Want. http://www.topica.com/t/16 >Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics > __________________________________________________________________________ ______ To unsubscribe from this list please send mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A The Email You Want. http://www.topica.com/t/16 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
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