On Wednesday, December 16, 2020 at 8:06:26 PM UTC-7, shaun_xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
After reading the article I retrieved my copy of the L23 flight manual. Where does it say you can't fly it higher than 12,805 feet? There are VNE reductions calculated up to 35,000, but nowhere in it can I find a service ceiling limitation as the plaintiff seems to suggest there are.

Did I miss something?

Note:I am aware of the differences between flight test for certification and the extrapolation used to prepare the manual.


https://trib.com/news/state-and-regi...249be5d1c.html
Shawn there are a number of L-23 Pilot Manuals PDF'd on the web. There are page revisions to most, but the PDFs may be dated. Ours was N392BA and appears on a few sites. It was sold and exported to Argentina several years ago. That page has the limit in one or more version, yet it's missing from others. So there may have been page changes made to the Pilot Manual and applied inconsistently.
The manual lists the 'demonstrated' ceiling in para 2.11, but it's manual page revision number is 1012.3 and is listed as S/N 978307, no N-number. It appears to apply to serial numbers 938101 and subsequent.
http://www.cagcsoaring.ca/wp-content...per-Blanik.pdf
It's in this copy
http://www.soarccsc.com/wp-content/u...ght-Manual.pdf

It does not appear in manual version/revision 1014.5 for serial numbers 029005 and subsequent.

So, it's a tough question. There were some payload changes from some of the earlier serial number. The first two digits are year of manufacture. Were there pilot manual page inserts that updated the pilot manual? I don't think demonstrated service altitude is a service limit.

FAA TCDS info for G60EU_Rev8
https://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgMakeModel.nsf/0/4be37cc5c028c09f86258115005f3e32/$FILE/G60EU_Rev_8.pdf

No pilot manual mentions an altitude placard. I certainly soared ours up to 17,500 several times.

The accident docket is here https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=97436

Frank Whiteley