How High?

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turbojet28

Well-Known Member
Hey there everyone,

Just a quick, fun question; how high have you been (in a light aircraft that is
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)? A buddy of mine (who has his PPL) and myself were flying around in a 172 on a severe clear day earlier this week and were thinking about just going UP for fun. Have any of you gone to the service ceilings of a light piston-single?
 
Never to the service ceiling...but pretty high. More than a few times over 10000....more than that at 10000. Unless it's a really short flight, I file for between 7000 and 9000.
 
Before I had my PPL I used to go flying with a buddy and one day we decided to see how high we could get in Austin (in the winter) in a 152. We got up to about 12500 before the oil temp reached the redline; we were still climbing 50-100 fpm at this point but the little engine had been working too hard and we didn't want to exceed the temp so we enrichened the mixture which cooled the engine off but we lost our climb rate.
 
I got to 13500 in a Warrior on an above standard day. I could have gotten a little higher, but it was time to descend, and oh yeah....that 30 mintues was creeping up on me.
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I've been up to 11,000 on the last flight I took to Meigs field when I was coming home. We were in a fully loaded 180 HP Arrow, with full tanks and four people in the plane (two very small people in the back), so we were real close to gross. We were probably doing 200 fpm for the last thousand or so feet.

Cheers


John Herreshoff
 
8500 in a 172, at night, over the mountains/hills west of Dulles/Manassas.

We were leaving HEF after having dinner w/ Amy's parents, I knew 6500 should have been plenty to clear the hills on the route I was flying, but it was really dark, couldn't even see an outline of the mountains, so to calm my nerves, got clearance to climb to 8500.

Controller told me I was at a good altitude for clearance, then she said, "but I know how dark it can get up there."

Saftey and sanity. Even though I was high enough for safety, needed to be even higher for the sanity. Plus, I like being more than "just safe enough"!
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The coolest thing about getting above 9000' or so, is that the view changes dramatically! Normal landmarks become microscopic, large bodies of water become recognizable as whole and you can see for miles and miles!
 
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I love the cool air!!! It's nice to get up around 10000 and have that cool air blowing!!

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Yeah, only I hit 9000' flying to Fargo in the dead of winter. I think I practically pegged the OAT!
 
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I love the cool air!!! It's nice to get up around 10000 and have that cool air blowing!!

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Yeah, only I hit 9000' flying to Fargo in the dead of winter. I think I practically pegged the OAT!

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OUCH!!!! Those Skyhawk heaters suck....
 
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14,200 in a C172 (I won't ever admit to this though )

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Those things go that high?
 
I've taken a seneca up to 12,500ft. I was getting a pretty decent groundspeed (165 knots) at that altitude for a non-turbocharged airplane. The fact that the tanks were less than half full and I was the sole occupant probably helped a bit too.

I've taken the Baron up to 11,000 although it could easily go higher. Highest I've taken a skyhawk is 11,000.
 
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