Weight & Balance

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Biscuit

New member
Just for consideration I am considering buying a Citabria for my first aircraft; I am looking at 150hp and above. My question is what are these aircraft capable of load carrying wise. I live on a 3200' grass strip with FAA trees at both ends, and I weigh about 300lb. Before you ask yes I can fold in half to get into the front seat. I also would like to be able to take someone up with me from time to time. I know of an instructor that says it would not be a problem for the aircraft, just would be overweight. And I am aware that operating an aircraft over weight would be against fed regs, so this is entirely hypothetical. Also have heard that as long I was in the front seat the center of gravity would not be an issue. Any thoughts would be helpful.
 
Biscuit:

The Citabria is a great plane and I love mine. I have a 7GCBC with a Lycoming the 150hp.

That being said, the POH gross weight of my Citabria is 1650 lbs. Empty POH weight is 1150 lbs. Gas tanks hold 35 gal. or 210 lbs when full, leaving me with 290 lbs of useful load. I only weigh 160 lbs fully clothed, so I have about 130 lbs left for another passenger. At your weight, you wouldn't even be legal with just yourself and full tanks, let alone have room for a passenger. Yes, you could fly with less than full tanks, but even there you're just barely legal.

Although the price of a Citabria makes it tempting to buy compared to other planes, it doesn't sound like the right plane for you. If you are "theorizing" about how to fly the plane overweight before you even buy it, you aren't buying the right plane for your needs. Just my thoughts.

Joe in MT
 
I agree with the comments in the last posting. The math does works out a bit more favorable if you consider a newer 7GCAA (160 HP, no flaps). The gross weight is 100 lbs higher and the empty wt is about 60 lbs lower. My 1999 7GCAA has an empty wt of 1090 and a max gross of 1750. (only aircraft with the ACA wings have the higher gross wt). 560 lbs - 300 (pilot) - 108 (18 gal of fuel) = 152 lbs left over for a passenger.
 
I was in your same boat. I'm 6'2" and 300 ibs. I ended up buying the Scout instead. It's useful load is 675-750 ibs. depending on equipment. I'm going to the factory on Friday to fly it home with a CFI. The CFI weights 150 ibs. so we figure with a couple toothbrushes and maybe a change of clothes, we will be able to throw 30-40 gallons of fuel on board and stop every 2 hours. I think the Scout would be your only solution personally.
 
Joe I think you will find that Scout wont care how much fuel you add. Congratulations on your purchase, As not to high jack the thread Biscuit, the Scout is what you should look for. They don't care if they are FAA trees or Pines (sorry couldn't resist) I am at 4000' with a 2700ft strip and I never use half of it getting off at gross even on hot days.
:lol:
 
I was hoping for more response, hopefully more favorable responses. I am considering other aircraft, but I really like the Citabria. Not to dwell on my weight but it is coming off, slowly but surly. Are there any other large Citabria pilots out there.
 
Howdy! I am 6'4" and weigh 240lbs. I have a 67 7ECA with the 115hp engine in it and 26 gallon tanks. I just had mine weighed and it came in at 1037lbs with the oil in it and the tanks bone dry. With the 156lbs of fuel, that leaves me with 457lbs worth of pilot, passenger and luggage I can carry.....How about looking at a older 7ECA?
Chic
 
Has anyone condsidered what the gross wieght would be in the Citabria if they were not listed as Aerobatic? More than likely 1800lbs plus. They have dropped the gross because of liability. I have a 7 GCBC, live in Idaho and am flying at 1800 lbs most of the time and have no trouble getting off the ground. I do have VG's and gap seals but I dont think that makes all that much difference.
 
Jerry:

Could you restate that last post in layman's terms. Interested in this topic, but not sure what you just said.

Thanks.
 
Sure.
CAR 4a was the certification basis for the Model 7's.
(Its the FAR Part 23 of long ago).

Thus, my point is, its not the Acrobatics that make the loads, in this case.
 
Jerry:

Not to sound ignorant or to put you on the spot, but I hear this question asked a lot about the Citabria. So if it's not the aerobatic rating, why is the gross weight of the 7 GCBC a hundred or more pounds less than the PA 18 150 that has similar a wing span and engine?
 
Its all in where you draw your line in the sand when you set up the limit of the airplane. You pick them, then test to it...you dont find a failure point and back off 50 pounds or something.

Characteristically, the Citabrias are overkill for their weights, but then we like that extra margin of safety. The changes to make the 2150 8GCBC are largely concerned with the landing gear, for instance.

Could you raise the GW? sure...just gotta spend a lot of money doing the testing. We did it already on the metal spar planes.
 
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