- Joined
- Dec 21, 2017
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So I'm a newbie to the Piper Lance. I purchased a PA32R-300 and I am learning as much as I can about this aircraft. I have about 30 hours in her and the more I fly the more questions I have. Before that I've had about 20 hours in a PA28R-200 but never climbed much above 6500'. I purchased the lance back in December and in the cold winter months I became accustom to one set of performance characteristics. Now the hot humid Indiana months are here and the plane handles different, for obvious reasons (pressure and density altitude changes).
The other day I was flying home from KSUS and I wanted to climb to a higher altitude than I have ever before, 9500MSL. The density altitude was 2100'. The elevation in that area around Saint Louis is 400-600'MSL. Normally in a climb I try to do 24MP over 25RPM. At about 8000'MSL, the throttle was pushed as far forward as possible and I could only maintain about 23MP and as I climbed the MP slowly fell (expected). Once I got to 8700'MSL, the MP was between 20 and 21. My RPM stayed the same but the climb performance was very sluggish. I'm normally used to 1000 fpm or greater, but normally I climb at about 600 - 750fpm depending on the day and the need. Once I passed 8700' I could only climb about 500fpm and even less the closer I got to 9500'. I never changed the pitch lever, left it at 2500RPM. Once I got to 9500' I pulled the pitch lever back to 2400RPM but it seemed the engine was really working hard at that point. Then again I had a tail wind of about 30 knots so maybe it wasn't the engine but the rushing air across the frame, I don't know.. still trying to learn these things.
So my questions are as follows:
1. if I would have advanced the prop lever forward to say 2600RPM or even 2700RPM could I have continued to get good climb performance at those high altitudes? Is it hard on the engine, prop, etc... to run at 21 over 26 in the climb? The Perf charts say you can get 65% power at 21MP over 24RPM but is that ok?
2. What is the best way to climb once my throttle is all the way open and my MP continues to drop?
3. we all know that performance on the ground is affected by pressure and density altitude, but is it safe to assume that as the weather gets warmer and muggier, my climb performance at especially at higher altitudes will decrease?
I still fly with a CFI for my IFR training and plan to ask these questions but would love to hear from others out there, especially fellow lance owners.
thanks!
The other day I was flying home from KSUS and I wanted to climb to a higher altitude than I have ever before, 9500MSL. The density altitude was 2100'. The elevation in that area around Saint Louis is 400-600'MSL. Normally in a climb I try to do 24MP over 25RPM. At about 8000'MSL, the throttle was pushed as far forward as possible and I could only maintain about 23MP and as I climbed the MP slowly fell (expected). Once I got to 8700'MSL, the MP was between 20 and 21. My RPM stayed the same but the climb performance was very sluggish. I'm normally used to 1000 fpm or greater, but normally I climb at about 600 - 750fpm depending on the day and the need. Once I passed 8700' I could only climb about 500fpm and even less the closer I got to 9500'. I never changed the pitch lever, left it at 2500RPM. Once I got to 9500' I pulled the pitch lever back to 2400RPM but it seemed the engine was really working hard at that point. Then again I had a tail wind of about 30 knots so maybe it wasn't the engine but the rushing air across the frame, I don't know.. still trying to learn these things.
So my questions are as follows:
1. if I would have advanced the prop lever forward to say 2600RPM or even 2700RPM could I have continued to get good climb performance at those high altitudes? Is it hard on the engine, prop, etc... to run at 21 over 26 in the climb? The Perf charts say you can get 65% power at 21MP over 24RPM but is that ok?
2. What is the best way to climb once my throttle is all the way open and my MP continues to drop?
3. we all know that performance on the ground is affected by pressure and density altitude, but is it safe to assume that as the weather gets warmer and muggier, my climb performance at especially at higher altitudes will decrease?
I still fly with a CFI for my IFR training and plan to ask these questions but would love to hear from others out there, especially fellow lance owners.
thanks!
