Greg Copeland wrote:
Down south (Texas), is air conditioning worth consideration on something
with only 180hp? What type of HP and weight hit does it incur? Is it
worth it? I suspect it's a possible source of ongoing maintenance. Should
it be considered or avoided at all costs? Does A/C add much to the cost
of annual? Impact gph in cruise?


Thanks,

Greg


I'm a partner in a '78 Archer II. It was manufactured with AC. Before
I bought into the partnership, the group had it removed. The general
consensus was that the weight (74 lbs) and additional maint was not
worth the limited use, even here in the south (Atlanta). Another issue
is that when you have the AC, the alternator belt is relegated to a very
small pully/belt which is very susceptible to getting out of alignment
and quickly destroying the belt. We finally had the pulley reconfigured
to a completely non-AC setup and the belt problems have disappeared.
The main time you would use the AC would be on the ground or cruising at
low altiltude, since you would not use it on take-off or cruise.

Mike pvt/IFR N44979 Archer II at RYY