Climb Performance-Cessna 150M

[Tango01]

It was hot today at YKZ and this little thing wasn't giving me more than 200 fpm at the beginning and then 400 at best.

I was about 20 pounds below gross weight. I checked the POH and the numbers there are nowhere close to what I got today. Now I know how the figures are calculated, the plane is not brand new, I'm not the test pilot and birds didn't shit on my windshield...

Do you guys find this common, and at what temperature you make it a NO-GO for this type?

T01

[bob sacamano]

Density altitude calculations. Those hot/humid days in YKZ area are brutal.

[Doc]

The POH was written for a new airplane.....your 150M may have a few hours on her?

[Hedley]

I was about 20 pounds below gross weight

I'll betcha that if you weighed it, you were over max gross when you taxiied out.

Free advice, worth what you paid me for it:

1) try to stay light. I know that we encourage student pilots to tanker fuel, but you may find you get better performance if the tanks aren't always full for every flight. If you've got a normal-sized instructor, consider a 172. For a 150, I might recommend a dwarf instructor - not over 100 lbs. No baggage at all unless completely necessary. No 50lb flight bags, with winter survival eqpt, ok?

2) LEAN THE F_CKING MIXTURE FOR TAKEOFF. You can't afford to give away any performance in high density (well, for Ontario) altitude conditions. I've flown at Leadville, Colorado (elevation 10,000) and if you were dumb enough to leave the mixture full rich, well, you were going to be tomorrow's NTSB report.

3) Precisely fly Vy after takeoff. Note that Vy (and Vx) decrease with decreased weight, but in your case, you're already at (or beyond) max gross weight. Ball in the center to reduce drag. Note your VSI. At a safe altitude, try varying your climb speed slightly - wait a while (to get rid of transient effects) then note your VSI again. Better or worse?

4) I know pilots never, ever clean aircraft but take a look at your wing. If it's a complete mess - a summer's worth of bugs - consider cleaning and (gasp!) waxing it with your delicate pilot hands. Also, clean the prop. Same argument.

I used to clean & wax Pitts that I rented at this place:

http://www.attitudeaviation.com/aircraft.htm

at Livermore, California, back in the 90's. Maybe I'm weird, but when I fly, I want a perfectly clean canopy (car wax works great) and a clean, smooth wing and a clean, smooth prop.

I remember hearing about some guys doing touch and goes in a Challenger bizjet, and they found that the accumulated bugs increased the stall speed tremendously. I'm not saying your C150 wing is NLF, but still, a clean smooth wing is going to provide more lift and less drag at the same AOA.

Start flaming now, children.

[Chemtech]

Is the engine up to snuff? I own a 150M and my usual load is around 100lbs below gross and i have never had a problem with performance. Now it is by no means a jet on those hot days but, it has never struggled once.