Having delved into this issue myself many years ago, I think he has hit the nail fairly and squarely on the head. There has never been to my knowledge any meaningful flight testing done at the higher (VFR) takeoff weight 3357kg or at the higher IFR wt of 3243kg. The reason for the increase would seem political in that when HC Sleigh imported the aircraft for the coastwatch contract, they needed the extra weight for payload/range specifications. The lack of climb performance at higher weights was more acute because of the added bubble windows and ~7 extra antennas. Also this category of aircraft is only required to maintain 5000' on one engine at
ISA conditions. Not indicative of the aussie environment.
Certainly he article title is misleading and the timing is in poor taste; possibly not relevant to this crash. It must however be addressed
