|
I recently read through Sky Smith's book on "How to Buy a Used Skymaster." I note that over the production lifespan of our favorite plane that the gross weight generally increased as the single engine rate of climb in FPM declined.
Now, I hate to expose my ignorance yet again but...did Cessna make design modifications in the airframe or control surfaces that resulted in these changes or is it simply a mater of how they were recorded/calculated? In other words, did they just take empirical data regarding weight vs. rate of climb and quote them at different points on the curve each year or did they actually modify the aircraft? The engines seem not to have changed so I am assuming it would have been the airframe.
This is an important distinction to a novice shopper. If the different models are structurally identical and differences in climb performance data are really just a matter of how the aircraft was tested, well then that eliminates a significant variable in the selection process. Among my many interests in the Skymaster is safety in an engine out on take off situation. A greater rate of climb in an engine out situation would be a significant plus in my considerations. But if SE performance is calculation dependent and not model dependent, well then I have many more options.
What say the well informed?
Hugh
|