Density Altitude is real!

by Ed
(Nampa, Idaho)

I was headed to the mountains for the day, it was summer hot but nice, so I thought I'd bring my plane and see if I could find a level place for take off and landing.

I trucked around out in the hills for a while and found a place level enough (you know how we look at these 'spots'!). OK, gased up and ready to go, good take off, then a few manuevers and things are good.
Go to do an inside loop, and the begining is good and strong (at this point I ask myself..."is this high enough?") but I thought it was OK, so I continue on with the loop.

All is good until the point where you notice that the rate of descent is faster than the rate of forward movement by 3 to 1... OK, starting to get worried about not making it at the bottom of the loop, and it's coming in fast!
I realized we're not going to clear the ground, and we didn't...

Everything from the back of the wing forward ripped out the belly, because it hit flat.
OK, end of flying for today, but I'm good at repairs now. Aircraft was and still is a Falcon 56.

Elevation of valley is 2400'asl, mountain elevation is 7800'... DENSITY ALTITUDE DOES EXIST and you'll see the effects if not respected!

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Density Altitude is real!

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Aug 14, 2009
6000 ft Wing Dragon 4
by: Anonymous

At 6000 ft altitude this plane will not reach flying speed on an 80 ft runway. I am going to try a broader, higher pitch prop. Hope it works!

Nov 17, 2007
Good warning!
by: Pete

Cheers Ed, a good warning indeed - I sometimes get e-mails from flyers in high altitude places, asking me whether or not plane performance will suffer.... I guess your story answers those questions! ;-)

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