A Few Questions about Private Flying

[Sean88]

Fuji Bound,

Is L2K, Le Touqeut in France? Googled it but couldn't find anything. That comment helped a great deal, it's what I joined and posted on the forum for, so thank you.

Nazgul,

Very inspiring, although I'm not sure I'd be so adventurous for a long time yet.


Thanks for the feedback guys. I posted a 2nd more specific thread, but all my questions have been answered and I'm definitely going full team ahead with my PPL.

[S-Works]

A C172 with pilot and 3 adult passengers, loaded legally, will just about make it to the next airfield down the road - say 10 miles.

G

Very sweeping and incorrect.....

My 172 will carry pilot and 3 pax, loaded completely legally for 5 hours at 128kts........

[Jan Olieslagers]

Is L2K, Le Touqeut in France?

Actually Le Touquet but LFAT will do too. Yes, we love to be mysterious, it is SO nice to use acronyms and abbreviations and codes only known to the happy few. Welcome!

[Fuji Abound]

Yeah but bose yours is hardly a normal 172 in fact i have heard said better than a tb20, jan hardly an acronym say slowly l ..... 2 ....... K its not difficult or clever just phoenetics.

[S-Works]

My Cessna could never compete with the continent crossing airliner capabilities of the TB20. I understand they are considering adapting a TB20 for the mission to mars project.....

The Cessna does do rather well at flying to GA airfields for lunch and a pee though..... And it can even be handflown and used for IFR....

[Genghis the Engineer]

I just looked up the Post Flight Report for a C172P I did an air test on last month.

I put down that with just me (180lb) and full fuel, I was at 1864lb, which was 81% MTOW - MTOW 2300lb I believe.

So, add in another 3 medium sized adults I'd have to lose 17 gallons of fuel to be on MTOW, which would give me 26 gallons of fuel. Allow 9 gallons an hour, and assume landing with an hour's fuel, that gives me about 1:50 airborne time.

Okay, my 10 miles comment was a bit pessimistic. You'd manage around 200 miles.

G

[Fuji Abound]

Genghis - are all engineers fat?

Bose - dont you pee in flight or have you got a big bladder?

[Genghis the Engineer]

Slightly overweight, I'm assured. And big boned.

Something that probably applies to a very large proportion of adults these days! How slightly of-course, varies.

G

[AN2 Driver]

Fuji, many of us are "big boned" or just not the "standard" adult imagined with most 4 seat designs which, in reality, are 2-3 seaters unless one talks parents with kids.

Realistically speaking, a "true" 4 seater would require a payload of around 400 kgs plus the fuel necessary for the trip. Not many airplanes I know do that. 400 kgs, that is a standard IATA adult plus his bags times 4.

That means, the typical 50 USG aircraft would need to have a total payload (Empty to MTOW) of around 550 kgs.

The "average" family of four, if calculated conservatively, will be less. Again, 2 standard adults with bags (200 kgs) plus 2 kids with bags (around 60 kgs each) will demand a payload of around 320 kgs plus fuel.

As to the protests of some lady passengers or pilot that they do not fit the description of a 100 kg adult, thank you very much, I fully agree, but take into account their baggage and many do. Apart, many think of a GA plane as their own airbound sedan, what fits comes along.

[S-Works]

Okay, my 10 miles comment was a bit pessimistic. You'd manage around 200 miles.

In a P maybe. Like I said your statement was inaccurate and sweeping and thus incorrect......

Bose - dont you pee in flight or have you got a big bladder?

Neither, I am a firm believer that GA is about visiting places and plan my legs in accordance with bladder rather than aircraft range. If I want to fly a very long way in one hit I will jump on an airliner and have a G&T on the way.....

But whatever floats your boat!!

[peterh337]

I can't right now think of anything more dim than limiting one's range by the need to have a pee somewhere on the ground.

[S-Works]

I can't right now think of anything more dim than limiting one's range by the need to have a pee somewhere on the ground.

Some of us can't think of anything as dim as peeing in a bottle, especially in front of passengers..... Must be performance anxiety....

But hey, like I said whatever floats your boat. I guess you Brighton boys are a bit more 'relaxed' in company.......

[Fuji Abound]

Bose-x

[YOUTUBE]

Men making each other pee - funniest commercial - YouTube

this is the way things are done in Brighton - seems fair enough to me

Perhaps you might like to feature in the four men in a Cessna version?

[Big Pistons Forever]

Originally Posted by Genghis the Engineer

I just looked up the Post Flight Report for a C172P I did an air test on last month.

I put down that with just me (180lb) and full fuel, I was at 1864lb, which was 81% MTOW - MTOW 2300lb I believe.

So, add in another 3 medium sized adults I'd have to lose 17 gallons of fuel to be on MTOW, which would give me 26 gallons of fuel. Allow 9 gallons an hour, and assume landing with an hour's fuel, that gives me about 1:50 airborne time.

Okay, my 10 miles comment was a bit pessimistic. You'd manage around 200 miles.

G

At the risk of being pedantic the C172P has a MGTOW of 2400 lbs, not 2300 lbs like the earlier marks. The extra 100 pounds will return 16.5 USG of the 17 gals you said you needed to offload. However that is the weight the aircraft must be at at the moment of takeoff.

The POH specifies that 1.1 gallons will be used for start/taxi and runup so you can add the last .5 gal to full (standard) tanks and have 3.5 pounds to spare for inflight snacks during your 3+45 flight