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Richard, Please accept these cautiously offered ideas. I've had a 415-D with an aggressive climb prop for 22 years but I've been mostly a flatland flier. I've only made one big trip out to Reno, up to Portland, across to Glacier park and home in terms of mountain flying. Here are my observations. Climb performance relates largely to aircraft weight, horsepower and pitch of the prop as well as the aerodynamics of the plane. In my 85 hp Coupe with a 7146 prop, I climb pretty well for a Coupe. 7146 is right at the edge of permissible for a Coupe. We're constrained by the static RPM according to the type certificate and I hit exactly on the maximum in no-wind static full-power run-up. I can't report exact numbers for climb because I've never done exact testing. I climb better than most other Coupes with the exception of Alons (which can out-climb and out-cruise me). To get the improved climb, I suffer from a max cruise of 100 mph. That's enough cruise for me to have flown to the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Gulf and the Canadian border and a fair number of places in between. I well recall taking off from the Rawlings, WY, airport at 7,000 feet at 10:30 on a warm June day. I was easily off in the first half of the runway. It was at 100 feet that the down-draft hit me. I remembered that downdrafts don't go THROUGH the ground, so I kept my airspeed up and looked around for a likely updraft. I was able to hold altitude adequately and maybe gain a little as I cruised over to the hot looking area and away from the mountain which (I think) was contributing to the down-draft at the airport. The hot spot was hot and I went up at 1200 fpm. I learned, that day and the next, to land and stay on the ground after 10:30. BUMPY!!! The next afternoon, I was for the only time, unable to make it to 12,500, topping out at 11,500 and 14,500 density altitude with my C-85 Coupe flying solo at about 1300 lb. I like cruising above the bump level on long trips. I follow the high-thin-air chapter in the back of Stick and Rudder and get very long cruise legs by flying high. My C-85 engine Coupe can make 12,500 at full gross weight of 1400 lb. Though it takes a while to get there - most of an hour. The STCed O-200 conversion calls for a particular prop that is common to Cessna 150s. That makes a pretty strong climb-prop for Coupes. With that prop, the cruise speed with the O-200 conversion is reported to be around 108 mph. Most of the extra power shows up in climb. My untested thoughts, from my experience with a lesser engine combined with reports from O-200 equipped mountain fliers, is that you'll do fine with an O-200. I'm also posting this to the Coupe e-mail list. If you're not a member of that list, please zing over to http://www.ercoupers.com and join quickly to see the feedback comments that'll flow! Ed Burkhead N3802H, Ercoupe 415-D Peoria, IL -----Original Message----- From: Richard Johnston [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2001 10:49 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Ercoupe Mr. Burkhead, I have reviewed the AD list, the pre-inspection and FAQ but can not find the answer to a question I have. I last flew a 1946 Ercoupe in N.Dak. at an elev. of about 1500 ft. I now live in southern Colorado at an elevation of 7600 ft. The Coupe I am looking at has the 100hp O-200. My question: What kind of performance i.e.: take off and climb, can I expect at this altitude? I recently sold my Cessna 150 with the O-200 and got along o.k. except on warm and hot days when the density altitude made it more feasable to stay on the ground. Your response will be greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Richard Johnston Alamosa, Colorado ==^================================================================ EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aVxiLm.aVzvvT Or send an email To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] This email was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
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