Should I be scared -- C172 over Gross

tman wrote:

Wow thanks for all the help guys. I showed this post and thread to the
two potential pax.

Anyways, I think my weight problem is solved.


You know. Sorry guys. I thought my sarcasm was obvious . I didn't
show the thread to anyone!

Did this flight, and here's the story;

I did the calcs and started out over gross by about 30 lbs. That's with
a C172 filled to the tabs -- leaving exactly 1 hour of reserve, which is
less than I've ever flown with _by plan_ before anyways. 1 hour
doesn't scare me from the standpoint of not being enough, but I didn't
feel I knew the fuel burn quite accurately enough to get down much past
1 hour on paper. That's worry #1.

As I got more concerned in my questioning, I kept getting "more accurate
estimates" of the pax weights as the days rolled by, and luggage got
"heavier" too, and I was up to 100 lbs over gross, then said enough.
Guess the concern in my voice, "yeah, I do need to know pretty close",
made 'em step on the scale, quit fibbing, or both. That was it. Just
one pax, not both, was my directive.

Well, it turned out that this 5000' runway is circa 1500 feet MSL.
Forgot to check that bit -- just assumed close to MSL till the day of
the trip, and also the day turned out to be +20F hotter than I thought
it would. I've experienced that heat not only hurts the planes
performance, but the pilots too. Oh yeah, a slightly gusty xwind too.
Pretty happy I planned on leaving one pax behind.

With all those factors, and a more conservative fuel load, I was est 50
below gross. Well, I'll never forget leaving that 5000' runway that day
and staring at that mutha****in hill in front of me wondering if I was
going to clear it. The plane was a dog in those conditions, and it did
not appear I was going to clear it -- maybe I would have, a lot of this
was mental _in retrospect_. Had to fight every reflex to keep from
pulling back and further back on that yoke. Watch the airspeed, easy
does it. On the spot I concocted -- First, plan A to veer to the left
just a bit to avoid the terrain, and a plan B to drop 10 flaps and go
for Vx. Plan A did the trick. I probably would have cleared the
terrain just fine. Could I have made it 100lbs over gross? Almost
certainly. I would have done a short-field takeoff and best angle
climb, etc. Do I need that kind of risk and worry in my life? Heck no.
Well, another lesson learned.....