AKar wrote:
Flying GA airplanes sometimes significantly overweight has been relatively common, unfortunately. It is not a rare ingredient in the accidents either, if you look up some reports.
In principle, if your balance is ok, a moderately overweight airplane flies likely just fine, but performance lacks in comparison to specified. As the performance of a typical GA is nothing too spectacular to begin with, and the plane is probably flown as if it was within its W&B limits, problems are certainly expected.
That 2600 lbs is only about 2 % above what MTOW the airframe is certified (if using higher-rated power plant option). In that sense, there is really nothing much at all to note in the "physics" unless you look carefully. Obviously, the aircraft performance is lacking from the book values.
-Esa
Something I always stress to pilots when discussing over gross is that although true that an out of cg condition is the major player in the cg vs GW equation, taking off over gross is NOT something I recommend doing at ANY time.
The reason for this caution is because an over gross condition changes every number on the stall speed starting with level flight and proceeding from there into the maneuvering envelope. An over gross aircraft flies at a higher angle of attack thus reducing the AOA spread the aircraft can use safely before reaching the wing's CLmax. Even more insidious and also associated is that the over gross condition also affects the airplane's Va.
Pilots who fly over gross weight are indeed test pilots. There is danger all through the envelope for an aircraft being flown over gross.
Dudley Henriques