My C-85 has a 7146 pitch prop -- an extreme climb prop. This leaves the static RPM at exactly the maximum allowed by the type certificate.
I was always able to climb to 12,500 until the law changed and I wasn't allowed to go there for lack of a transponder. My one trip out west, I passed over any mountain range I wanted at 12,400 (give or take) and stayed 2,000' above the ridge lines in perfectly smooth air. (Till the thermals started going at 10:30.) Yeah, it still takes some time to get up that high. But, read the "Thin Air" appendix in "Stick and Rudder" and see that cruising at high altitude gives good gains when you can lean. Drawback: top speed level and 2400 rpm: 100 mph (not knots). It goes a little bit faster if I let it spin faster. Very good take-off performance for a Coupe. Often a 1,000-1,400 foot ground roll on grass at gross. -- Ed Burkhead East Peoria, Ill. N3802H, 415-D
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