Thanks for the replies. I got the 52 and 55 knot figures from the POH, it's a -161 Warrior II, 1978 I think. Bear in mind I don't fly to test pilot accuracy, which is precisely the reason I like doing that sort of thing, I know what the a/c will do when I'm flying it, not some steely eyed killer in a brand new a/c.
At the other extreme we have a 180hp 172. I took that flying in a 20 knot straight down the runway wind just before Christmas with around one third fuel and I was at rotation speed before I had full throttle on....I reckon the ground roll was 200 ft or less and climbing through the wind gradient had the VSI at 1700 fpm.
All good stuff.
Ah, forgot to mention, I did a ROC check as well on the 28. With two stages of flap and Vx of 63 kts it had 800fpm; with flaps up and Vy of 79 kts it had 1000 fpm at a weight of 1990 lb, 450 short of MAUW. The short field approach speed was supposed to be 57 kts for that weight, but I ballsed that up and approached 7 kts fast, so I suppose the short field landing distance from 50 ft would be more like 800 ft or so.
Last edited by thing; 30th January 2012 at 13:09.