Hey all,I was just wondering about the weight of the cargo missions. So far they are all listed as Light Cargo. Required A/C category: Cargo, very light. So an example mission would be, deliver 864 Kg of mail to xx destination. The info sheet on my Maule says it has a max payload of 376 Kg in addition to fuel. So how is it I would be able to go so much above my rated max payload?Also, just a little math... The max gross weight for take off (and landing) is about 1134 Kg, that includes everything. If I only count the weight of the empty A/C (780 Kg), plus max payload, I'm up to about 1156 Kg. Already over the max, for safety. So that said, if I were to carry 864 Kg of cargo, approximately 500 Kg more than I'm rated for, even on a near empty tank of fuel, I'm still going to land well over 500 Kg heavy.This is doable, but no way I can follow my checklist since by doing so, my Maule ends up dropping too fast in the last crucial seconds, so I have to maintain a greater speed it seems in order to land more smoothly.Thoughts?Cheers,Darryl

Yeah but do as the boss tells you to do, or you will be fired :D.

Yeah but do as the boss tells you to do

Funny that... cause on the clandestine missions, they always suggest to me to dump some fuel since we're heavy. But I'll already be around 25% starting. I'm sure I burn a lot faster since I usually stay between 60-200 feet above the deck. So after around 90 NM or so, I'll be down to about 10% or less fuel. Even these guys think my A/C is too heavy! :o

It is the recommend weight to guarantee safe operation.You have the choice:Do not startStart with minimum fuel and do some hops to other airports on the way to refuelStart disregarding the overweight -> aircraft will be harder to fly and not performing well. -> chance for hard landing is high

Start disregarding the overweight -> aircraft will be harder to fly and not performing well. -> chance for hard landing is high

This is what I've been doing. My chance for a hard landing is very high!! I was just thinking that at this point with limited A/C available, there are some pretty heavy cargo jobs for the type of Very Light Cargo A/C we have.

well....hmmm how do i answer this...this cannot be done within the guidelines really...but then again, they are just guidelines. loli have seen a c172, with a useful load of 775lbs, fly from point A to point B, with full tanks and 4 people...totaling roughly 300lbs over weight, and have no problems to speak of. i personally would never try it...but i think it'd be a good test for a lot of planes...forget the 'safe' limit in the book...i want to know the actual DO NOT EXCEED weights.

And island hopping looking for fuel isn't all that easy with no access to the map, either!

And island hopping looking for fuel isn't all that easy with no access to the map, either!

+1 but I guess that means a pre-defined flight plan.