C182 climb performance

[Guest theo]

I dont know.Is it just me or is there something wrong with the C182?Ive been flying it lately and it seems to me that it climbs very slowly(about 750ft per minute at 85kts at 2100RPM)as if it were underpowered or something?I climb at the indicated specs but when I get to about 7500ft it drops off to 500ft per minute at 80kts?Is this normal,or are the flight dynamics screwed?ThanxTheo, South Africa:-sun1

[LAdamson 240]

172's are not great climbers by any means, and I doubt the 182 is either----- but I havn't flown one. When you mention 7500', are you leaning the engine? Because at around 6000' in FS2002, performance really drops off without leaning every few thousand feet.L.Adamson

[Guest Moghdad]

"750ft per minute at 85kts at 2100RPM" doesn't sound like very poor performance. Shouldn't you be climbing at 2400-2500 RPM? What manifold pressure readings are you getting? And while I haven't flown the 182 in real like, a climb rate of 500 fpm at 80kts at 7500 doesn't sound shockingly low either.

[Guest theo]

Yes,I am leaning the mixture.And Moghdad,I just feel that the 172 performs better than the 182.I mean if the 172 has 180hp and the 182 has 230hp I think its performance should be better!Thanx very much guys! :)Theo, South Africa:-sun1

[Guest Marty1]

Hey Theo go to Realair Simulations. www.realairsimulations.com.They have replacement flight dynamics for the default 182.

[Guest]

Ok, I guess I had better pipe up on this one since I fly a 182 about 15 hours a week for a local skydiving club in Nebraska. First off, the ac we have is an older model (63), however the engine only has about 750 hours on it. Our 182 is without any seats except the pilots, also only one yoke. When I have a full load, that means gross weight with 4 skydivers and me. (Remember no seats, so they sit on the floor and I can carry 4) I can figure on about 1000 ft. per min for the first 1000-2000ft. at standard temp and pressure. Now field elevation is 1500 msl so take that into consideration. As we approach 10,000 AGL I'm "thinking light" and only getting about 200-300 ft/min. Best rate of climb is 80 mph in our 182. Remember all ac are a little different but that should give you an idea.

[Guest]

I just reread the other posts. I don't pay any attention to what my manifold pressure is. I push the throttle all the way in and leave it. Prop also stays all the way in all the way up. We lean out all the way up one tick short of the star on the egt. You may find it interesting (or not) but we need that ac on the ground asap after the jumpers have left the ac. To prevent shock cooling, the procedure is to enrichen the mixture before "door coming open" this helps to start cooling the engine from the inside. Pull the prop back to the bottom of the green arc (acts like a brake), close the cowl flaps, throttle back to 15inches manifold (bottom of the green arc)not idle, and spiral down at a 160 mph (top of the green arc) trimming in back pressure to increase decent rate. That gets me about 2500 ft/min decent.

[LAdamson 240]

I actually DID find your "dive" technique of interest! Throttle & prop makes lot's of sense too! I always have to start at around 4200-4600' msl, so we never get as good performance figures........ at least with the aircraft I fly, since I havn't flown a 182.L.Adamson