"Steve Schneider" wrote

Flying this plane with club seating does allow for some interesting weight
shifting when passengers (wife and kids typically) swap seats in flight.
You definitely do feel the change, and as such I always keep in mind which
passengers sit in which seats. Imagine the above loading with the rear
passengers (2x180lb) in the center row of seats and the rear seats empty.
Once airborne they decide they don't like to fly 'backwards' in the club
seating and 'help themselves' to the the empty rear seats. Suddenly we go
from a very comfortable CG to a precariously aft CG. Not a situation one
generally needs to worry about in 2 and 4 seat airplanes.

With the passengers putting the CG at the most aft limits, do you notice any
increase in speed, with the same power and prop settings? I would think the
aft CG would take the downward lift away from the horizontal, and pick up
some speed, but I don't know. It would seem like the ideal experiment; to
be able to quickly change the CG with no changes in air density, power, or
any other type of changes.
--
Jim in NC