Hi all,

I know my Musketeer is not a STOL plane but I want to quantify it's performance.

Today the conditions were good for a test, so with only me in the plane and a hour of fuel (1750lb, 600lb under gross) I did some max performance takeoffs. Here are the facts...

-1000'msl
-2200' Density altitude
-32.20"hg
-79deg f
-wind calm to 050deg @ 5knt
-2700' 090-270 hard, dry, cut grass strip that is level (used 090)

I did three takeoffs to get an average and measured the distance with a tape measure. Landmarks were easy to use.

-600' ground run
-1100' over 30' (telephone pole height)
-1800' over 50'

How does this relate to other four seaters in the 150-180hp range flying light?

TIA,

Todd Giencke

tgiencke wrote:Hi all,

I know my Musketeer is not a STOL plane but I want to quantify it's performance.

Today the conditions were good for a test, so with only me in the plane and a hour of fuel (1750lb, 600lb under gross) I did some max performance takeoffs. Here are the facts...

-1000'msl
-2200' Density altitude
-32.20"hg
-79deg f
-wind calm to 050deg @ 5knt
-2700' 090-270 hard, dry, cut grass strip that is level (used 090)

I did three takeoffs to get an average and measured the distance with a tape measure. Landmarks were easy to use.

-600' ground run
-1100' over 30' (telephone pole height)
-1800' over 50'

How does this relate to other four seaters in the 150-180hp range flying light?

TIA,

Todd Giencke

If you ever want to know how your plane really does over a 50 foot obstacle Montana Aeronautics has a device called a theodolite. They can tell you precisely when you get to 50 feet. You can then load your plane to various weights and see what the performance is. It's a good way also to check and see if your POH is accurate. I did this with my Bo and with myself and about 40 gallons, a density altitude of 5500 and no wind I got thru 50 feet at 1246 feet, almost exactly what the book calls for. For you I would suggest doing this at more realistic weights. Start adding weight in 100 pound increments and see what happens.

If you have a friend who is a surveyor, rope them into shooting it for you.

Or go to a WAAS enabled field and then analyze the GPS track of your flight when you get home.

Disclaimer: In no way am I basing decisions on this little toy, but got it out of shear curiosity. I'm tinkering with it to see if it gets me in the right ballpark (kind of like reverse engineering) and calibrating it to the specific aircraft that I fly. With that being said....

Last Christmas I got a slide rule calculator from Sporty's that I thought looked like it would be fun to play with and see what kind of numbers it would provide me for varying conditions. This slide rule type calculator basically takes the info from the POH that you would normally have to add 10% for, subtract X amount for, and puts it into a slide rule format. It asks you to put in DA, type of runway, slope, temp, % of gross weight, etc, and then computes the needed distance for takeoff. It has a few common type of aircraft listed at the bottom, but can be calibrated for your specific make and model.

So far, it seems to be in the ballpark. The only draw back is I have to guesstimate my takeoff distance (unless I'm at a towered field and I ask the tower to guesstimate for me). It's been fun to play with and has given a little more insight to the performance of the aircraft I fly. I figure that I'll keep tweaking it until I routinely get a consistent, valid result. But even then, it's for informational purposes only....like using a "non-sanctioned" weather site for a better overall picture of the weather forecast.

A good way to measure takeoff and landing roll is to look for your tracks. In the desert playas, the wheels leave nice marks. A grass strip on a dewy morning also is good for seeing where ya been.
tom