Cheers,
Here again is a topic which newer aviators should bone up on.
Hot'nHigh is not new - just latent in later years. It is a topic about which
those who've had the benefit of a formal flight education (full airforce or
equivalent)
are clearly able to perceive the dangers more easily.
There are a few bright spots:
Airports which publish (or better yet ) display the ravages of Hot'nHigh by
showing the runways lengths required of a critical takeoff roll against
temperature and pressure are to be congratulated. It may be that some
passengers are better able to assess the danger when their pilot has done
only cursory planning. It is also a graphic example to most.
Well hidden in the recesses of our Lockheed L1011 TriStar manual
was a takeoff temperature restriction. Only by chance did I make note of
same.
Several years later, I was in a Hot'nHigh international airfield preparing
for the fourhour trip home, doors closed, pax aboard, air cooler
disconnected when departure ATIS read "............, runway temperature
44degC..........". Airfield temp was 41. Much to the other two pilots'
dismay, I asked for clarification and stopped the departure. the limit was
43degC. What's a degree? The difference between knowing you're disobeying a
law of Nature and not, the difference (should a tire blow) of a
multi-billion dollar lawsuit and an hour's delay, the difference between a
smooth gate departure and explaining to 300 people (including "team" cabin)
that one degree makes All The Difference.
I think one should calculate the max temp of your home field
(and any others likely to be used more than once), and use the resultant
density altitude equivalent to attempt a takeoff and note the aircraft's
behaviour - stall speed, and following climb rate, then mentally re-position
the aircraft at the original field to disciver the terrain capabilities. A
set of charts (our aircraft are all different) would be in order. I think
eyes would open for some then.
I am surprised at how little is emphasized in "initial test flight" articles
to this worrisome aspect of homebuilts.
Back to doddering............
happy landings
Ferg A064
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