You are a fool if you take a PA28 161 into Glenforsa with 3 or 4 people.
If you cant understand that then get your CFI to explain it.
If your club CFI does not stop you then he or she is a fool also.
I am a fool then, having done it at least half a dozen times. I also know of many others who do on an occasional basis.
However, each time I have worked out weight for the landing and take off (including fuel burn to get there which would reduce the weight which existed on departure from my home base). We have never been at max weight of course (no heavyweights on board) and I would agree that that would be pushing the envelope a bit when you factor in the CAA take off performance limits to do so. Interestingly, it looks doable on max weight in the Archer I now fly, but a little too close to my own personal safety margin !!
On each occasion I have had about 500' spare (to the 50' height in the POH) after making the calculations and using the graph supplied by Piper.
In reality, the aircraft has actually performed slightly better than the calculations, but then that is what the safety factoring is all about and to be expected.
I also make a mental decision point where if acceleration is not up to scratch then I will scrub the take off with plenty of time to stop.
In all cases the runway has been dry and in good condition and the aircraft has had a relatively newly reconditioned engine.
So with careful planning, and experience, as well as a good airframe .... it can be, and is, done.
I would echo the thoughts of others though, that it is not to be attempted by those who don't have short strip experience or haven't operated off an easier grass field and know how to handle the aircraft on that surface. It is not the kind of place to build up non existent experience in operating your aircraft close to, or at, its limits.
Like everything in aviation, there is risk involved, otherwise none of us would go flying. But provided you do the sums, add on all the extra factors for safety, and are not flying a pig of an aircraft, then it is certainly achievable.
The only overrun I have heard of on Mull was by a PA32 Cherokee Six which had 7 people on board and ended up taking half the perimeter barbed wire fence with it when getting airborne. In spite of the fuel tank being punctured and leaking, the pilot continued all the way back to Edinburgh ... where the CAA representatives were waiting to have a chat with him. I think he was charged with endangering the safety of an aircraft.
EGCJFlyer seems to me to know his limitations and has a plan to deal with them. I don't expect to read about any mishap when he makes his trip to Mull
