The other night I pulled a aircraft out of my hangar which I have never flown before, Cessna 182RG. I planned a 145 mile cross country trip with an altitude of 8500'MSL. My initial climb speed was 90 KTS, but as I reached about 4000' the airspeed dropped and the plane refused to climb. I thought I had a bad plane, so I pulled out my usual 172 and found the same problem. If I pull the mixture back to just before cutoff, I am able to get a little more power out of the plane but now where near enough to continue a climb. Any info on what might have caused this and how to correct it would be greatly appreciated.Brian

Your problem IS the mixture. Seems like your using too little or too much. At around 4000' it's going to be about 1/2 & then more at 6000'. MS kind of computes this in gradual steps. L.Adamson

Let me include a little more informationAirport Elevevation 426'During my run-up, everything checks out fine, proper RPM drop on both mags, gauges look good.On the take off roll, full throttle only produces 2100 RPM with mixture full rich. Reducing the mixture to try to get the power up just kills the engine.This mixture issue has never been a problem in the past, normally I can keep the mixture full rich and the only adverse condition is poor fuel consumption.Brian

Then it may be in your throttle setup. I just tried the 182RG from Half Moon Bay at sea level & it would "red-line" at full throttle. As to mixture, the simulated power will definately reduce the higher you get. Since I use a 4600' airport as default, I usually pull the mixture out at least 1/3 & then adjust from there. In real life, at this airport, leaning is part of the pre-takeoff proceedure. 6000' in this simulation is definately the altitude where FS2002 needs some leaning to get performance. Otherwise, climb rates bleed off real fast. L.Adamson

Wait a minute... 2100 RPM at full throttle at 426 feet? This is the C182RG, right? You didn't mention your manifold pressure at all. What manifold pressure setting are you using? Don't forget that the 182 has a variable pitch propeller. The pitch of the blades will effect RPM as well as performance.