Bellance 7GCBC flight envelope

[rapidshot]

7GCBC (1979) POH indicates the MTOW of the airplane is 1650 lbs but while surfing on the internet i read the ones with metal spars have an increased MTOW to 1800 lbs without any backup information like flight envelope, or i couldnt find any,

any opinions ?

[Dan the weegie]

That's correct, the wooden spar in the original citabria has a lower approved wing load than those that have had the spar upgrade to metal spars, you can buy these kits from American champion and I believe that the CAA have approved the mod, contact blueyonder for more info :)

[rapidshot]

Thak you Dan,
what i understand is it is critical in spar strength point of view, what i wonder is its impact on the aerodynamic and flight dynamics parameters,

[Dan the weegie]

Doubt there is much change but blueyonder would be the first port of call for that kind of information.

[Pilot DAR]

Rapid,

Have a good read of the Type Certificate Data Sheet,

TCDS A-759 Rev 73 American Champion Aircraft Corp. (http://www.airweb.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_library%5CrgMakeModel.nsf/0/2B3FA1C355E95F9A862578380053D423?OpenDocument)

There are variations between Citabria models, and the TCDS spells them out. Be sure to read all of the notes at the end of the TCDS. Obviously, it is necessary to have the serial number of your aircraft to reference.

There are weight, and C of G oddities which some of the earlier models. A client of mine did the metal spar conversion on a 7GCBC, and somewhere along the line lost 80 pounds of useful load. As his Citabria was a floatplane, this was critical. The aircraft was limited to pilot only and full fuel when the conversion was done, and the plane put back on floats. I did the test flying required for the necessary gross weight increase. Oddly enough, to test the aircraft at gross weight, and the aft C of G limit, I had to pour 60 pounds of water into the aft float compartments, as I could not carry ballast in the baggage compartment far enough back!

[rapidshot]

Thank you,

at the first glance this document seems to be valuable, i am eager to read it by heart